We decided to take a little holiday getaway to La Jolla and San Diego and rented an Airbnb near the beach and had so much fun exploring all the great gluten free eateries in San Diego!

I was quite impressed with some of our finds and am excited to share these amazing restaurants with you to try if you find yourself in San Diego as well.

We were quite lucky to be there in between two major rain storms and though it was dry, it was still quite cold for SoCal standards. That did not stop us from eating delicious food all over town!

Dedicated Gluten-Free Restaurants

Trilogy Sanctuary

Trilogy Sanctuary is a true wellness sanctuary in La Jolla! You can find it on a rooftop with ocean views in the heart of downtown La Jolla and you can easily spend your entire day here.

First let's talk about the incredible food! The entire cafe is 100% gluten free, plant based, organic, soy free and refined sugar free! I absolutely love eating at restaurants like this because you walk away from your meal feeling so nourished and healthy.

They have quite an extensive and unique menu that makes it hard to decide what to eat but we settled on the falafel tacos which we’re on a buckwheat tortilla with tapenade, vegan nachos, the seasonal harvest bowl which was full of delicious fall & winter produce and the heavenly smoothie which was the most beautiful color smoothie I have ever had. We also had a hot coconut chai and detox green juice which were the perfect compliment to our meal.

As if the restaurant itself is not a destination on it’s own, they also offer yoga classes in their rooftop and have an adorable shop Totem Boutique that I highly recommend shopping at after lunch or while you are waiting for your take out order.

We loved the food so much we ended up ordering an Acai Bowl for breakfast the next day and a light dinner for our last night in town. If you ever find yourself in La Jolla this is a must!

El Tianguis

El Tianguis is where taquito dreams come true. As a Celiac, usually taquitos are off limits due to shared fryers but at El Tianguis you can indulge on all the taquitos you want since the entire menu is gluten free!

The menu is super simple with 5 taquito options including Beef, Chicken, Potato, Vegan and Californian which is beef, cheese and potato. We did a sampler to try them all and they were all delicious! I really loved the beef (no surprise there) and the Californian.

El Tianguis has 3 locations throughout San Diego so definitely put them on your radar as a must eat at if you are traveling here or live in the area. We picked up our taquitos from the North Park Location and it was a really nice day on our trip so we took them to the lawn on Balboa Park and enjoyed our taquitos at the park, which was a perfect place to go for a stroll after. El Tianguis, we need you in LA!

Nectarine Grove

Nectarine Grove is located in Leucadia and is definitely a must stop if you are in the area. The entire menu is 100% gluten free and paleo. Yes that means the pizza and the chicken and waffles we had were PALEO. It was heavenly.

We had a BBQ Chicken Pizza and Pepperoni Pizza which were made on a paleo crust with grass fed cheese. We also had the Paleo waffles with the plantain crusted chicken and we left very full! After lunch I highly recommend doing a little stroll at the shops in Encinitas to work off lunch.

If you are in the mood for something lighter they also have delicious salads, bowls and burgers so we will definitely have to stop in again at some point.

Dedicated Gluten-Free Bakeries & Desserts

Paleo Treats

Paleo Treats is magical little spot that only sells Paleo baked goods and treats! All of their items contain super clean ingredients and the only sweetener they use us maple syrup or honey.

We got a little sampler of tasty treats to take back to our Airbnb and enjoyed them on our roof deck. We had a blueberry muffin, layered hug cakes (omg so good!), paleo bread which was super fluffy and some chocolate treats including an almond butter cup and some tasty chocolates with only 5 ingredients.

You know I love finding Gluten Free restaurants on my travels but I get even more excited when its paleo since I mostly keep a paleo diet when I am home.

They also had amazing paleo ice cream bars, but unfortunately the weather was quite cold when we were in town and we opted to save the ice cream bars for next time we head down to San Diego, hopefully in the summer.

If you are in San Diego I highly recommend stopping at this little gem and if you are not local you can order online for shipping!

Kula Ice Cream

Kula Ice Cream is an amazing dairy free, gluten free and vegan ice cream shop! Our last day in town ended up being the warmest and the sun poked through so we decided it was time for ice cream!

Ice cream shops are usually off limits for Celiacs due to cross contamination with scoopers touching cones or non gluten free flavors so it is a magical experience when you can actually enjoy everything in the shop with peace of mind.

We sampled all the flavors and it was so hard to choose from but I went for the seasonal Peppermint Hot Cocoa and Pineapple Upside Down Cake on their house made waffle cones. Yes thats right, they make their own waffle cones so you can have the full experience even 100% gluten free and vegan!

Kula Ice Cream also makes ice cream cakes, milkshakes and ice cream sandwiches all gluten/dairy free so make sure this is on your list to try in San Diego. I would love to see Kula Ice Cream in LA someday soon too:)

The Gluten Free Baking Company

The Gluten Free Baking Company is a small bakery located in the North Park area of San Diego. They are best known for their donuts and other delicious treats. We grabbed a few items to go and they were all very tasty. Do note that some of their items contain oats, which I avoid so if you are sensitive make sure to have them walk you through what is oat free.

Not 100% Dedicated Gluten Free, But Safe!

Himitsu

Himitsu was another gem in La Jolla. Typically as a Celiac, Sushi is a very difficult food to eat out due to soy sauce causing high cross contamination issues as well as anything fried being off limits as well. Himitsu is an amazing spot to have a normal sushi meal and everything is delicious! Their fryer and tempura is 100% gluten free, they make their own gluten free soy sauce! Only 2 items on the menu have gluten. One is a sandwich which is easy to avoid and the other is a miso sauce they use for plating a dish, also very easy to avoid. We got a variety of rolls and sashimi and it was all delicious.

Gluten Free Options To Try Next Time…

There are still a few more must try places for my next adventure to San Diego that we did not get to go to this trip.

Choice Juicery

I really wanted to check out Choice Juicery but alas we ran out of time. This is definitely on my list to check out next time. Their juices and food looks delicious and they are also 100% gluten free.

Peace Pies

Peace Pies is also gluten free and plant based but they were not able to confirm if their nuts have potential gluten cross contamination so given it was the holidays and I am very sensitive, I opted to save this one for next time and I can take my Nima Sensor in to see if it is safe for me. If you are not super sensitive though, this looks absolutely delicious.

Starry Lane Bakery

Starry Lane Bakery is another gluten free bakery in San Diego but most of their baked goods have oats, which I am unfortunately sensitive to. However if you tolerate GF oats, this could be worth checking out as well.