28 Gluten-Free Restaurants in Auckland: Dining Out with Coeliac Disease

Initially, we created this list of gluten-free restaurants in Auckland for ourselves after a diagnosis of coeliac disease and the instant need for a gluten-free diet.

Regardless of why you follow a gluten-free diet, we know first-hand the challenge you face every time you eat out.

We have been doing it for a while now and have found a few fully gluten-free restaurants in Auckland, plus plenty more with gluten-free options.

Over the years, we have refined our list, removing places that failed us and adding recommendations from other coeliacs. We know our list is not exhaustive, but rather it represents what we believe are the best gluten-free Auckland options.

What you see below is a collaborative effort to find the best gluten-free restaurants Auckland offers.

Gluten-free restaurants in Auckland CBD – Near Sky Tower

Masu

Masu is a fabulous Japanese restaurant that was listed amongst the top 10% of restaurants worldwide in a recent TripAdvisor Traveller’s Choice Awards. They offer a separate gluten-free menu, and the staff has a clear understanding of coeliacs and dietary requirements. Best of all, the food is outstanding, the service impeccable, and it’s one of my favourite gluten-free restaurants in Auckland, especially for special occasions.

Federal Delicatessen

Nicknamed “The Fed,” New Zealand’s version of a classic Canadian Jewish-style deli has been a favourite long before we were diagnosed. After hearing they could do gluten-free well, we gave them a try and were pleasantly surprised despite the limited number of GF options.

While they don’t have a dedicated gluten-free menu, the staff is well aware of what can be made coeliac safe vs what is just gluten-free with possible traces. To date, we have had no issue with cross-contamination.

Mexican Cafe

Our favourite American-style Mexican food in Auckland now offers a dedicated gluten-free menu. I am pleased to report that the GF options were just as tasty as the originals.

Salsa fans flock here on Friday nights after 10.30 pm when the tables push back, and the dancing begins. (They do put dancing on hold sometimes, so you might want to check first.)

Orbit 360º

High in the sky, near the observation deck of the Sky Tower, Orbit 360º is New Zealand’s only rotating restaurant. The premium prices are worth it for the atmosphere, and it’s a great place to bring someone you want to impress. The restaurant offers gluten-free and vegan options.

Mezze Bar

Imagine espresso, Mediterranean tapas, and wine in a casual setting, and you have Mezze Bar. Offering generous portions made for sharing, they have an extensive gluten-free menu. Personally, I love their patatas bravas. They can’t guarantee zero cross-contamination, but to date, we have had no issues.

Tony’s Original Steak and Seafood Restaurant

As the name implies, Tony’s serves steak and seafood with a European flair. While I haven’t personally been here, they do offer a gluten-free menu, and we have been told by several coeliac friends that the food comes out flagged as gluten-free.

More gluten-free Auckland CBD options

Cafe Hanoi

Cafe Hanoi is delicious street-inspired Vietnamese meals, most of which can be made coeliac safe. The menu is filled with gluten-free, nut-free, dairy-free, and vegan options intermixed with a bit of everything Vietnamese.

As the meals are made for sharing, and we often have multiple servers, we clarify often that everything is coeliac safe. Note: None of their tofu dishes can be made coeliac-safe.

Good Luck Coconut

We were so excited when we stumbled upon Good Luck Coconut in Wynyard Quarter. Their cuisine is a mix of Pacific Asian delights. And the menu has some yummy gluten and dairy-free options.

Delicious food and management that cares about the food and the environment make this a winner.

Baduzzi

Italian perfection. With meals made for sharing, we like to enjoy traditional flavours and try some new ones. Not only is there a dedicated gluten-free menu, but it also identifies which items cannot be made coeliac-friendly, like their GF pasta.

Lone Star

Classic Texas menu and best known for its ribs, Lone Star has several franchises throughout the country, and we have never been disappointed by any of them. My personal favourite is a chicken dish with their famous buffalo chips – made in a separate gluten-free fryer. They go to great lengths to be allergy-safe, even providing an allergy checklist of every item on the menu if you ask for it. 

Gluten-free Ponsonby / Grey Lynn

Little Bird Kitchen

Vegan (plant-based) and gluten-free (although a few sweets contain oats) means I can eat everything on the menu, from some tasty savoury options to sweets so good you won’t believe they are GF.

If I am in Auckland at lunchtime, you can often find me here as it’s my current favourite among the Auckland gluten-free restaurants. There are several raw food options, too. Best of all, not only is it delicious, but it’s also one of the healthiest lunches in town.

No wonder this cafe is always crowded but not too crowded. In addition to the cafe seating, there are a few shared tables, so always somewhere to sit. I hope you love it as much as I do.

Blue Breeze Inn

Modern Pacific Thai food with surprisingly large portions made for sharing. Gluten-free, as well as spicy, hot spicy, and longer prep time are all identified on the menu. While I love eating here, be warned there is spice to just about everything.

Olas Arepas

Also, in Ponsonby Central, they are specialists in Venezuelan-style arepas. Made from white corn, arepas are fresh, healthy and 100% gluten-free. If you haven’t tried one, prepare to find a new favourite meal, and it will quickly become one of your favourite gluten-free restaurants in Auckland.

We were pleased to discover that Olas Arepas has a gluten-free food truck. We ate from it at an outdoor movie night in Wynyard Quarter.

El Sizzling Chorizo

If you have been to South America, you’re probably familiar with asado, that slow-cooked Argentinian barbecue resulting in meat so tender, it is no surprise that El Sizzling Chorizo is often crowded. They can do most meals gluten-free, and we have watched them carefully use separate tongs to turn our meat.

Mekong Baby

Southeast Asian flavours dominate this menu, which is loaded with gluten-free options. Made for sharing, the wait staff seemed pretty on to it and clear about what could also be made dairy-free. The menu identifies spicy items, so if you want a mild meal, avoid these.

Gluten-free restaurants in Auckland: Mt Eden / Epsom / Royal Oak

Sen Vietnamese Kitchen & Bar

Sen is high on our list of favourite gluten-free restaurants in Auckland for dinner. Featuring Vietnamese street food, nearly everything on the menu is gluten-free. The staff is very aware of the coeliac difference and can advise the few items that cannot be made coeliac-safe (they have only one fryer). We frequently order the main size of the pho (photo above), an item listed on the menu only as an entree.

Joes Garage

Joe’s Garage has locations throughout New Zealand, and I have eaten successfully at many of them. They are a good go-to when I don’t know anything else local. The menu offers plenty of gluten-free options, and the food is well-presented and quite tasty. Everything they serve that goes into a fryer is gluten-free, leaving no room for mistakes.

The Chip Shop (Royal Oak)

Fish and chips are amongst the delightful treats I thought I would have to sacrifice forever with a diagnosis that keeps me gluten-free. Not true. The Chip Shop in Royal Oak does coeliac-safe takeaway in a dedicated GF fryer. They also do seafood and several vegetarian fritters. As a bonus, they are loved even by the normal eaters in our family.

Gluten-free restaurants in Auckland: Other neighbourhoods

The Attic (New Lynn)

A 100% family-owned and operated restaurant approved by Coeliac New Zealand, I have wanted to eat here since we first heard about it. Finally, on Mother’s Day last year, I had a perfectly prepared plate of ribs, chips, and coleslaw, all coeliac safe and made with New Zealand free-range produce. A special night, it was a preset menu. I can’t wait to get back and try some of the other options.

Bodrum Kitchen (Mission Bay)

Best known for Mediterranean street food, I feel safe eating at Bodrum Kitchen as the chef, who seemed to fully understand coeliac disease, came out to the table to tell me the best options (I am also dairy-free), what he can alter, and which things get put in the fryer, so I can’t have them.

Equally important, the food is full of flavour and delicious, and to top it off, their coffee is just a bit different from my traditional cappuccino, in a really good way. This might be my new favourite spot in Mission Bay.

The Chosen Bun (Stonefields)

Who would have thought there would be so many options for tasty burgers once I was gluten-free? The Chosen Bun makes everything from scratch. As a result, they have great control over their ingredients and processes. Plus, they have a strictly gluten-free fryer.

Gluten-free desserts in Auckland

If you have a sweet tooth, this city still has you covered. In fact, one of the best (in my opinion) of the coeliac-friendly restaurants in Auckland is dessert only, and it tops our list below.

I am not sure what it means, but all four of my favourite dessert spots are ice cream shops of sorts. And each offers gluten and dairy-free options.

Giapo

What can I say about Giapo? This is it, the pinnacle of ice cream shops, and if outstanding service, delicate flavours, and world-famous status aren’t enough, Giapo is 100% gluten-free. Taking ice cream eating to new levels, Giapo also features dairy-free and vegan options. Importantly, the staff is super attentive to allergies.

Duck Island

Another handcrafted ice cream shop that is well-known amongst the coeliac crowd, Duck Island offers plenty of gluten-free flavours, although they rotate which ones are in the cabinet on any given day. Their extensive range of vegan (dairy-free) options are made with coconut milk.

I not only enjoyed them in Auckland, but they are my go-to in Wellington. Tell them you are coeliac, and they will serve from the back out of ice cream containers with no chance of cross-contamination.

Gilatiamo

For us, no visit to Wynyard Quarter is complete without a gelato from Gilatiamo. They keep the gluten-free options in a separate case (photo above), and carefully use dedicated serving utensils to prevent any cross-contamination.

Ben and Jerry’s

This is the classic Vermont ice cream, famous in the USA. We have only been in the Ponsonby location. To protect against cross-contamination for coeliacs, they sterilize the tools, then remove the top several centimetres of ice cream to serve from the untouched section of the tub.

Gluten-free: Auckland takeaways with multiple locations

• Hell’s Pizza
  If you thought gluten-free meant never having a good pizza again, you are wrong. Hell Pizza will change your views forever. Even their gluten and dairy-free pizza is tasty. They are the first fast-food chain in New Zealand to have some of their locations certified by Coeliac New Zealand’s Dining Out Programme.
• St. Pierre’s Sushi
  Most St. Pierre’s we have been to understand and have a procedure for coeliac safety. We have watched staff change to fresh gloves, fresh food bowl, and a new workspace. Please note that while we have had good experiences at St. Pierre’s in Manawa Bay, K-Road and Wangaparaoa locations, we have been to others, like Westfield New Market, where the staff had no idea about coeliac safety. Be sure to ask and be satisfied with the answer.
• Burger Fuel
  Burger Fuel is gourmet fast-food burgers that I enjoy now just as much as I did before my diagnosis. More than just offering gluten-free buns, Burger Fuel takes extra care with preparation to avoid cross-contamination. Note that they do NOT have a dedicated fryer, so the chips are not coeliac safe.
• Pita Pit
  Another fast-food option that understands how to prepare a GF meal. Pita Pit has gluten-free pita bread and usually does a great job avoiding cross-contamination. The one time they messed up, my daughter got a phone call apologizing, along with an assurance of retraining.

What is it really like having coeliac disease?

If you want to understand what it’s like to live as a coeliac, check out this short documentary by Sarah Albom in association with Coeliac New Zealand.

Don’t Pass the Bread follows several people with coeliac disease and how their lives have been impacted since getting diagnosed with the gluten-based autoimmune disease.

Tips for eating at gluten-free restaurants in Auckland or anywhere

• Always ask questions, as many as you need to feel safe about your meal.
• Even if the menu stipulates gluten-free, be sure to tell the server of your dietary requirements and always request to have gluten-free or coeliac written on your order to the kitchen.
• To avoid cross-contamination, verify that they have a separate gluten-free fryer and toaster if you are ordering anything that uses those items.
• Things change. Confirm that your food will be coeliac-safe this time, even if you have ordered the same meal in the past.
• When the food arrives, I always verify that it’s fully gluten-free and coeliac safe.

Practical information for eating gluten-free in New Zealand

• The Find Me Gluten Free app is free to download and use to search for user-reviewed gluten-free restaurants anywhere in New Zealand.
• If you are a member of Coeliac New Zealand, check out their Dining Out Guide.
• If you didn’t find what you’re looking for here, check out the Coeliac Disease New Zealand Facebook group.
• If you’re staying in, here are tips to make your own kitchen gluten-free.

Heading over the bridge? Don’t miss these gluten-free restaurants on the Hibiscus Coast.

Where will you eat gluten-free in Auckland?

Disclaimer: The information provided above is true and accurate at the time we wrote it and is all based on personal experience. We encourage you to always ask about your own meals every time.