Since I got diagnosed with celiac disease two months ago, I’ve so far only experienced what it’s like to be celiac in Alicante, Spain.
Matt and I were reflecting on this the other day — when we go back to the U.S. for Christmas, it’s going to be like starting over again. Reading new labels on familiar foods at the grocery store, looking for the gluten-free symbol on menus at favorite restaurants. But for now, I’ve gotten pretty comfortable eating gluten free in Alicante!
I’ve found several guides for gluten-free eating in different cities in Spain, but I didn’t see one for Alicante. So I thought I’d write it myself — with plenty of updates to come!
Gluten-Free Map of Alicante
Map Key (Colors)
- Green: Dedicated gluten-free establishment
- Dark pink: Not dedicated gluten-free, but has a 5-heart safety rating on the FindMeGF app
- Light pink: Not dedicated gluten-free, but has a 4 or 4.5-heart safety rating on the FindMeGF app
- Orange: Drinks only
- Dark blue: Shops only
Map Key (Symbols)
- Cow icon: Spanish food 😉
- Spoon & knife: Other type of food
- Birthday cake: Bakery
- Ice cream cone: Ice cream shop
- Beer: Bar that has gluten-free beer
- Coffee cup: Coffee shop with certified gluten-free oat milk (so no worries about cross-contact!)
- Shopping cart: Grocery store with decent selection of gluten-free items, including snacks
The Best Gluten-Free Restaurants in Alicante
I’ve been most of the places on the map above (I didn’t want to add too many places I hadn’t been) but here are some notes on my favorites:
Vegan Bombon Sin Gluten: If I need a quick bite on the go, this is where I usually end up. Before, I would grab an empanada or a sandwich. Now, I stop into Vegan Bombon Sin Gluten. They have a ton of gluten-free bread, pastries, cookies, cinnamon rolls, etc. Apparently their menu is even more extensive but I haven’t sat and ordered in here yet!
Restaurante El Buen Comer: I think this is going to be a must-visit every time we have visitors in town. It’s a traditional Spanish restaurant with an amazing menu deal, including special Alicante appetizers and a main course, which is great on its own… but they took special care of me by substituting one of the dishes so it was suitable for me, as well as bringing me gluten-free bread.
Indian House: This isn’t a Spanish restaurant, but it’s one of the places I feel safest dining out — which is good news because it’s only like a five-minute walk from our apartment. Most of their dishes are naturally gluten-free, so I just order rice as my side instead of naan now. 🥲
Cioccolatta Puro d’Italia: Fun fact, this was my favorite ice cream shop in town even before I got diagnosed as celiac. So I was lucky to find out later that they’re 100% gluten free — including their cones!
Sip & Wonder: Oat milk is pretty popular here in Spain, and although I guess it’s questionable how much a shared milk steamer is likely to transfer potential gluten in oat milk to regular milk, I feel safer going somewhere that I know the oat milk is 100% gluten free!
What To Do at Restaurants If You’re Celiac or Gluten-Free in Spain
Of course, since my diagnosis, I’ve been plenty of places in Alicante that aren’t dedicated gluten free — or aren’t on the FindMeGF app at all. (Actually, I’ve been adding a lot of new places!)
Here are the steps I take when I go to a restaurant.
- Sit down at the table — and try to sit near where I think the waiter is going to be standing, because we’re probably going to be talking to each other a lot and I don’t always want to do it over everyone else.
- Ask for the “carta de alérgenos” which means allergy menu. The allergy menus in Spain are generally very extensive and usually have a wheat symbol in a little orange circle to indicate the presence of gluten. You can also sometimes find these menus posted up outside the restaurant door!
- After the waiter takes our drink orders, and is ready to take our food orders, I usually try to let everyone else go first. Then, when it gets to me, I tell the waiter: “Soy celíaca,” which obviously means “I’m celiac.” So far, pretty much everyone I’ve encountered has known what that means. (Change it to celíaco if you identify as male.)
Here’s where it gets tricky. Just because something is listed as gluten-free on the menu, it doesn’t mean it’s free from cross-contact with gluten. Apparently in some countries, like Italy, it’s required by law to be also free of cross-contact. (Not sure if that’s true, but I’ll be going there in two months so I guess I’ll find out!) But in Spain, it’s not like that. Which means that once I’ve selected what I want to order, I have to start asking questions.
Common Questions To Ask: Gluten Free in Spain / Gluten Free in Alicante
If the dish has potatoes: Are the potatoes fried separately from other things? Las patatas tienen su propio aceite y freidora?
So far, I don’t think I’ve had even one place tell me that the potatoes aren’t fried separately, so that’s great 🙂
If the dish has gluten-free bread: Is the bread toasted separately? El pan tiene su propia tostadora?
If the dish has other fried elements such as egg, ham, peppers, etc: Will the grill be clean? Está limpia la parrilla?
If there’s anything that I’m not sure about, before or after my food comes out: Esta ___(insert item here) ___ lleva gluten? Does this have gluten?
Sometimes I try to just overexplain when I’m ordering: I can’t have gluten. I can’t have anything that has touched gluten or is touched by anyone who was touching gluten. My food needs to be prepared separately from everything else.
If you’re not comfortable with Spanish, I recommend downloading this free Spanish gluten-free translation card! I’ve picked up a few in different languages that I’ll be using for my trip to Asia, and I’m sure they’re going to come in handy.
Other Things to Know: Gluten Free in Alicante
Just a few more random thoughts on things you might want to know before you visit Spain/Alicante as a gluten-free traveler.
• From what I can tell, celiac disease is fairly well understood in Spain, at least by food service workers.
• “Sin Gluten” means gluten-free, and you can find it on lots of labels in grocery stores — particularly the ones I noted on the map above.
• Even if something doesn’t say it’s gluten free, you can look for the allergy statement on the back of the label. Any potential allergens will be labeled in bold on the list. You should be looking for harina, trigo, centena, cebada, or avena. (I usually only see harina, trigo, and avena, which are flour, wheat, and oats.) Some things also say “May contain traces of ____.”
• Fries/potatoes/chips, rice, seafood, and burgers/sandwiches with gluten-free buns/bread are some of the most common gluten-free foods you can get in restaurants here. Just don’t forget your follow-up questions!
• If you want to ask a bartender if they have gluten-free beer, just ask: “Tienes cerveza sin gluten?”
• In Alicante, bars will usually give you some snacks along with each round of drinks. These are usually olives, snack mix, potato chips, or gummy candy. I pretty much stay away from it all now, unless I’m really hungry, in which case I will ask if it has gluten.
• If you go to a random little cafe/bar for coffee that looks like no one there speaks English and like they’d laugh at you if you asked for almond milk, you probably don’t need to worry about the milk steamer. They probably only have cow’s milk there.
Let me know what other questions you have about being gluten free in Alicante or Spain! I’d be more than happy to do my best to answer — and feel free to connect with me on FindMeGF as well. 🙂
-Cathy
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