We travelled to Barcelona, Spain for four days in March 2024. I did a lot of research into where I could safely eat gluten free while traveling to Spain. I had been told by family and friends that they saw “sin gluten” everywhere, so I was optimistic I would easily find places to eat – and I did! However, we did feel a little bit let down by some of the restaurants we ate at that got rave reviews. We are a bit spoiled for gluten free choice coming from Vancouver, Canada! We caution you to temper your expectations and don’t let a long list of stellar reviews get your hopes up – you never know where the reviewers are coming from.
One thing Barcelona has going for it is that there are a ton of dedicated gluten free spots, including an incredible number of gluten free bakeries. We couldn’t possibly make it to all of them during our 4 day trip! That being said, there are many options aside from where we ate below (including entirely gluten free options). As always, do your research, ask questions ahead of ordering, and reach out to restaurants ahead of time when needed. I have included a map at the end of all the gluten free places I had researched as being safe to eat at, even if we didn’t end up eating there.
Here is where I ate during our March 2024 visit and my reviews:
Hanai Vegana Bakery
This is a 100% gluten free bakery that is also vegan. We visited multiple times! Across our visits we tried croissants, pain au chocolate, a lemon cake, a savoury broccoli and cheese pastry, and a donut. The croissants are the star here – light, fluffy, and flaky. The best we tried in Barcelona! The broccoli and cheese pastry in the flakiest gluten free phyllo I think is possible. The lemon cake and donuts were okay, but I wouldn’t choose them again. The pastries were super inexpensive for being gluten free, but the cake-type things were a bit more expensive.
Jansana Gluten Free Bakery
Another 100% gluten free bakery, that is super popular with the locals. Expect to wait in line for a bit! We got a chicken empanada and a flaky pastry of some sort to eat there, and then a baguette and one of each croissant flavour to go. The empanada was to die for! The baguette was also delicious fresh. The croissants were small and dense, and sort of underwhelming. It isn’t what I’d order here if I came again. We watched what the locals were ordering, and it seems bread and the fancy cake slices are where it’s at!
Gula Sana
Yup, another 100% gluten free bakery, this time combined with a café! We came for a sit-down meal (lunch), and had eggs Benedict and a tomato breakfast toast, plus coffee. The eggs Benedict was good. The baked goods looked fantastic, but we were too full to get any.
Conesa Entrepans
This is a sandwich shop, which has gluten free options prepared in a separate area and marked upon receiving them with a gluten free sticker. We had the chicken with caramelized onions and the eggplant with goat cheese. The bread was really good and they were big sandwiches! The menu is well-marked, in three languages. We would recommend, and we would return.
Messie Sin Gluten – Mutaner
This 100% gluten free Italian restaurant has multiple locations. I know, I know – we’re in Spain but went for Italian?! But, it was easy and close to where we were at the time. We had one pizza and one pasta. The pizza was a truffle mushroom kind and was delicious! The pasta was some sort of artichoke pasta dish that had no flavour. Based on that, we’d say get the pizza.
A-Vocados
A chain in Barcelona, but only one location is fully gluten free (which is the location we went to). We ordered vegan sobrasada, sweet potatoes brava, and avocado toast. The sobrasada was almost like a hummus type dip but maybe made with yams. The sweet potatoes brava was just yam fries with a sauce of some sort on top (wouldn’t repeat). The avocado toast was so good. It had tons of avocado, hollandaise, an egg, and pomegranate seeds on top. The flavours were so good, but the food was really rich!
Els “Pollos” de Llull
This is a chicken spot with a marked menu, indicating gluten free options. We had chicken, Cuban rice, and patatas bravas. The chicken was delicious – so moist! We’d come back here. They have multiple locations throughout Barcelona.
Cal Marius 449
This is a 100% gluten free tapas restaurant. There may be a bit of a language barrier if you don’t speak any Spanish, so I’d suggest having Google Translate ready to go. We ordered 2 types of croquettes, some sort of deep fried eggplant dish, and patatas bravas. The eggplant was our favourite. We didn’t love the croquettes as we found them to be a bit “glue-y”. The potatoes were fine, but wouldn’t get them again.
ARTiSA
We stumbled upon this spot as we searched for coffee, and it happened to have a bunch of gluten free options! We only got coffee, so I can’t speak to the safety of their gluten free protocols and dishes. They had gluten free toasts, sandwiches, cakes, baked goods, and gelato. They also seem to have more than one location.
Acai & Me
We went here for smoothies as we were craving them on a hot day. I reached out to them on Instagram to find out if their granola was safe (and therefore if I could get a smoothie bowl). They said while it’s gluten free, they couldn’t guarantee cross-contamination with the granola. So, I stuck with a regular smoothie, which was delicious and just what I needed!
Parallello Gelato
We wandered here off the street hoping we could find something safe. They had knowledgeable employees who were able to help me out with choosing a safe flavour and used separate scoops for each container. You can also find their flavours online with all ingredients listed!
Grocery Options
We found good gluten free options in Lidl and in Carrefour Express while in Barcelona. Of course, since they’re grocery stores, they have the typical naturally gluten free foods such as produce, cheese, yogurt, etc. However, both also had packaged options including breads, cereals, and local pastry favourites such as packaged Magdalena muffins and palm tree pastries.
Map of Gluten Free Options
If you want more options, here is the Wanderlog map I made of everywhere I could find that had good gluten free reviews, labelled menus, and/or indications that gluten free was safe at their restaurants. Please note that I did not personally eat at all these restaurants, so do your own due diligence and reach out or check their websites/menus ahead of your visit.
HOW TO USE THE MAP: Click on the Wanderlog logo in the bottom right corner to open the full-size map up in a new tab. There, you can choose to just look at one category at a time or see all the categories on the map at once (click the 3 squares in the top right to choose). You can also export the map to Google Maps, share the map with others, or save the map.