About six months after my celiac disease diagnosis, it was time to tackle yet another country for the first time as a gluten-free traveler: France. I had read that France wouldn’t be quite as accommodating as Spain or Italy, but I felt lucky to be traveling with my friend Rebecca, who was born in Paris and speaks French fluently… so I knew she’d be able to help me out.
We were visiting Lyon for its famous Festival of Lights, which takes place every December — and despite Lyon being the third-largest city in France, it still felt like a small town in some ways. Including when it came to finding gluten-free options.
So, here’s what you need to know about being gluten-free in Lyon, France.
Gluten-Free Map of Lyon
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
Map Key (Symbols)
- Chicken: French food 😉
- Spoon & knife: Other type of food
- Pizza: Italian/pizza restaurant
- Birthday cake: Bakery
- Plant/leaf: Health food restaurant
Notes About the Gluten-Free Map of Lyon
• Anywhere that I personally ate will have my review in the “description” section when you click on it.
• There may be other restaurants in Lyon offering gluten-free options that didn’t meet my “personal” requirements for the above map, such as not having enough reviews. But this should be a good starting point.
The Best Gluten-Free Restaurants in Lyon
Copains: There are two locations in Lyon, and I was lucky to be able to visit both! This is a 100% dedicated gluten-free bakery, and I’m SO happy it exists. It was amazing to have the ability to choose anything I wanted without having to worry or ask questions. Copains is a bit more expensive than other bakeries, especially when it comes to coffee, but you can’t put a price on celiac safety — especially when everything looks delicious as well! We ate at Copains every day of our trip.
Breizh Cafe: If you’re gluten-free in Lyon, buckwheat crepes are going to be your best friend. I actually ate buckwheat crepes/galettes at three different places (Breizh Cafe, Nataly’s Cafe, and Crêperie Marie Morgane) because it made me feel like I was actually eating French food in France. Luckily, Matt and Rebecca were happy to eat crepes for lunch almost every day with me. Keep in mind that most often, only the savory crepes are made with buckwheat, so you probably won’t be able to get any Nutella or strawberries or anything like that. Also, be sure to double check that there isn’t any cross-contact between the “regular” and buckwheat crepes, but having Rebecca and her French skills helped me with that!
*The reason Breizh Cafe gets a standout mention here is because their menu was very clearly labeled with “SG” (sans gluten) so I felt they had the best knowledge/safety protocols of the three crepe places we ate.
Tigermilk: We came here because it had good reviews on FindMeGF, but we felt a little weird about eating at a Mexican restaurant in France. However, it turned out to be our favorite meal of the whole trip! The menu was clearly marked with which items were gluten-free, and when I told our waiter I was celiac, he said: “Oh, we actually have another celiac at another table right now!” Not only was the food tasty, but the hibiscus margarita pitcher is something I’m still thinking about almost 3 months later. Plus, the decor in there is super cute. You may want to make a reservation if you’re planning on going to Tigermilk. (We couldn’t get a table the first night we tried to go.)
What To Do at Restaurants If You’re Celiac or Gluten-Free in France
You’ll notice that there aren’t too many dedicated gluten-free restaurants in Lyon, so you’ll have to take it upon yourself to talk to the staff before you order.
Here are the steps I took when eating gluten-free in Lyon:
- Sit down at the table. I usually try to sit where I think I’ll have easiest access to the waiter, 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.
- The waiter would bring the menus. Compared to other cities in Europe I’ve visited, I didn’t notice a lot of allergy labeling on the menu.
- At that point, I would usually ask the waiter about gluten-free options and tell them that I was celiac. (Or, mostly have Rebecca do it in French so that I could be sure I was understood, lol.) Something I noticed is that most places didn’t seem to have an inherent familiarity with the word “cœliaque” (which is actually pronounced similarly to English, despite its intimidating spelling.) Meanwhile, in Spain and Italy if you say you’re celiac, the waiters have an immediate understanding of what that means. So I felt we had to lean more on the “gluten-free” part of the messaging.
- If they weren’t marked on the menu, the waiter would usually begin pointing out which options were gluten free.
Remember: Just because something is gluten-free, it doesn’t mean it’s free of cross-contact. So you’ll have to start asking questions.
Common Questions To Ask: Gluten Free in France/Gluten Free in Lyon
If the dish has gluten-free bread: Is the bread toasted separately? Le pain est-il grillé séparément?
If there are gluten-free/buckwheat crepes: Are the crepes prepared on a separate pan? Les crêpes sont-elles préparées dans une poêle séparée?
If the dish has grilled items such as ham, potatoes, cheese, etc: Is this prepared on a clean grill? Est-ce préparé sur un gril propre?
If there’s anything that I’m not sure about, before or after my food comes out: Does this ____ have gluten? Ce ___ contient-il du gluten?
Don’t ask me to pronounce any of these. 😂
If you’re not comfortable in French — or don’t have a French-speaking buddy with you on your trip — I recommend downloading this free French gluten-free translation card and saving it to your phone! It helps explain the most important basics to ensure that you’re communicating with your waiter as clearly as possible.
Other Things to Know: Gluten Free in Lyon
Just a few more random thoughts on things you might want to know before you visit Lyon/France as a gluten-free traveler.
• Celiac disease does NOT seem to be super well-known amongst food service workers, at least in Lyon. Outside of the places that we went, most of them specifically because they already had several decent reviews on FindMeGF.
• “Sans Gluten” means gluten-free. However, I didn’t find this on packaging as much as I do in Spain.
• 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 farine, blé, seigle, orge, or avoine/gruau. Some things also say “May contain traces of ____.” Peut contenir des traces de…
• Grocery stores like Auchan and Monoprix will generally have snacks that are not labeled gluten-free, but they don’t contain gluten. These should be safe. These will be things like chips, nuts, yogurt, hummus, etc.
• Buckwheat crepes are some of the most common gluten-free foods you can get in restaurants here. They will be medium/dark brown instead of the lighter color of “regular” crepes. Just don’t forget your follow-up questions!
• If you order coffee with milk, be sure to ensure that their oat milk is gluten-free, otherwise you’ll want to ask them to clean the steamer. I usually try to see what brand they’re using and see if I can Google it myself or find it on the packaging from a distance. If I’m not sure or I’m not feeling up to asking about it, I’ll just order an Americano with milk on top.
Let me know what other questions you have about being gluten free in Lyon or France! 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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