I have never been to Washington before, so I am excited to share all of the awesome gluten free restaurants in Washington DC. It was on my bucket list so I am beyond excited to see it. While we were planning our travel plans, my husband reconnected with an old friend who happens to live in Washington, which makes the decision on where to travel a piece of cake. I almost always use Booking.com or Airbnb’s when I travel so I can have a kitchen and make my own food. Not to mention that you have more space and it is homey!
Gluten Free DC
I am going to answer all of your burning questions about traveling and eating gluten free here. Each and every city seems to be different and there are no country standards, so you have to do your research to find out. I will answer all of these burning questions:
- Are there gluten free restaurants in Washington DC?
- Is there a gluten free brunch place?
- Is there a gluten free bakery?
So sit back and relax, it is here for you in a one-stop-shop.
Step one – research:
Always know what you are getting into. Search the area you are in and the surrounding area to get an idea about what gluten free restaurant options that you have and make a list of them and their hours of operation. You can learn a lot about the place by reading the reviews. I usually just pick a few that I will try.
Step two – washing up:
When I arrive the first thing I do is wash the plates, utensils and frying pans that I am going to be using so I know everything is clean and I can’t get sick due to cross contamination.
Step three – pre-planning
You must do some meal planning for the time that you will be staying at the location. If you haven’t learnt how to do meal planning, I strongly suggest that you read some articles about it and practice it. It will make your life a lot easier, not just for travelling, but for regular day-to-day as well. Sometimes the host will have condiments and other food staples for you to use, so take those into account when doing your meal planning.
Step four – goal of the first day:
The goal of the first full day is to find a grocery store in the area and get supplies for your stay. You don’t need to do elaborate meals (in step three), but you need some basic meals that will fill you and taste good.
Gluten Free Travelling & Products
Subscribe Now
Gluten Free in Washington DC - Groceries
I found a Teeter Harris near our place, so we stocked up the items we needed from our meal planning. I love breakfast and a big hardy breakfast with bacon or sausage, potatoes and eggs. Not to mention that if you start the day with a big breakfast you can pack a light lunch and that will take you through the day until supper.
My basic meal plans were:
Breakfast:
- Bacon, eggs and potatoes for two days
- Sausage, eggs and oranges for two days
- Oranges and an omelet for one day
Lunch:
- I have sandwiches, bananas and granola bars
Supper:
- I pre-cook a bunch of chicken breasts the first night and have a few bagged salads and have chicken salad. My husband is a big eater, so we always have food in the fridge.
Gluten Free Restaurants DC
Chaia Tacos is a 100% gluten free restaurant and is also vegetarian. You will enjoy it, so check out their menu here.
Hours of operations: Open Monday to Friday from 11 am to 9 pm and Saturday and Sunday from 10 am to 9 pm.
Location: 3207 Grace St NW, Washington, DC 20007, USA
The Little Beet is another 100% gluten free restaurant in the city. You can have a lot of options here. You can see their website here.
Location: 1212 18th St NW, Washington, DC 20036, USA
Hours of operations: Open Monday to Friday from 11 am to 9 pm and Saturday and Sunday from noon till 9 pm.
Seoul Spice is yet another 100% gluten free restaurant to try. You can see their menu here.
Location: 4600 Wisconsin Ave NW, Washington, DC 20016, USA
Hours of operations: Open daily from 11 am to 10 pm.
Legal Seafood is the place for you if you are in the mood for seafood. They can make almost everything on their menu gluten free and they take cross contamination seriously. You will be in good hands.
Location: 704 7th St NW, Washington, DC 20001, USA
Hours of operations: Open Monday to Thursday from 11 am to 11 pm, Friday and Saturday from 11 am to midnight and Sunday from noon to 10 pm.
Roti Mediterranean Grill they have a gluten free pita that they serve you on its own foil to deal with cross contamination. You can talk to them about celiac and changing gloves and not get any eye-rolling.
Location: 2221 I St NW, Washington, DC 20037, USA (with multiple locations)
Hours of operations: Open Monday to Friday from 10:30 am to 10 pm and Saturday and Sunday from 11 am to 9:30 pm.
GCDC you can get sandwiches on gluten free bread! Check out their Facebook page here. They use gluten free bread from Rise Bakery in DC. Most of their soups are gluten free, so just ask.
Location: 1730 Pennsylvania Ave NW Washington, District of Columbia
Hours of operations: Closed on Sundays, open Monday to Friday from 11 am to 3 pm and then again at 4 pm to 9 pm and Saturday from 11 am to 6 pm.
Wicked Waffle you can try the chicken and waffle! I never get to eat this option, so I am beyond happy to eat it! You can see on their menu here, where it clearly states there are tons of gluten free options.
Location: Washington DC Location 1712 I St NW, Washington, DC 20006
Hours of operations: Open Monday to Friday and Sunday from 7 am to 4 pm and the weekends from 9 am to 2 pm.
Open City is a great spot for breakfast and I loved the huevos rancheros. Check out their website here.
Location: 2331 Calvert St NW, Washington, DC 20008, USA
Hours of operations: Open daily from 7 am to midnight.
The Hamilton has tons of items on their menu that are gluten free, just check it out here.
Location: 600 14th St NW, Washington, DC 20005, USA
Hours of operations: Open Monday to Saturday from 11 am to 2 am and on Sunday from 10 am to 2 am.
Plan B Burger you can get a burger if you are looking for some comfort food. You can see the website here.
Location: 801 Pennsylvania Ave NW, Washington, DC 20004, USA
Hours of operations: Open daily from 11 am to 11 pm.
Old Ebbit Grill you may have to make a reservation if you don’t want to wait. The chefs take allergens seriously, so tell them when you make your reservation that you have celiac and they can accommodate you. Here is their menu, so you can pick out your entrée.
Location: 675 15th St NW, Washington, DC 20005, USA
Hours of operations: Open daily from 7:30 am to 2:30 am.
Gluten Free Bakery DC
There is a fabulous 100% gluten free bakery called Rise Bakery and it has delicious treats, breads and croissants for you to try. They even have a little café where you can grab a breakfast sandwich or turkey pesto panini. You can see their full menu here.
Location: 2409 18th St NW, Washington, DC 20009, USA
Hours of operations: On Monday to Friday it is open from 7:30 am to 6:30 pm and Saturday and Sunday from 8:30 am to 6:30 pm.
Gluten Free Brunch DC
My favourite brunch place is either Rise Bakery or Open City. You will get a delicious meal and a cool atmosphere, so you can have a nice visit with your travel mate or family if you are visiting others.
Best Gluten Free Restaurants DC
While I do not have to go to a 100% gluten free restaurant, I will likely choose a 100% restaurant if I can. So, here my favourite restaurants are the 100% gluten free restaurants:
- Chaia Tacos
- The Little Beet
- Seoul Spice
Restaurants can change owners, chefs and menus: please contact the restaurant to ensure a gluten free meal can still be offered.
Disclosure: Some of the links below are affiliate links, meaning, at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase. I want to be up-front and I only recommend products or services that I like and it helps me deliver free content to my readers.
Things to Know
Travelling from Canada into the United States and using data on our cell phones. In our case we had cancelled our Canadian numbers as we were travelling for a year and the options from Canadian providers just weren’t very good. We choose a $30 tourist SIM card from T-Mobile, so we could have data when we needed it but mostly used free Wi-fi.
The metro system throughout DC and Virginia was good and easy to use. On the weekend they do maintenance so the times between stops was a little bit longer than during the weekdays, but it was still quite good to use.
The buildings were old and very cool to see, and the trendy areas were good for people watching. We overheard many people talking about Trump and other political things, which is always very entertaining.
We thought that we would see protestors at the White House, but there were just a few people and it was mostly just tourists taking pictures.
Things I Would Recommend Seeing
If you are in Washington, DC there is always something fun going on. All the museums are free which makes it all very affordable. Some sights in Washington that I loved and would recommend include:
- The White House of course
- Lincoln Memorial
- Capital – we did a tour and it was very good and informative
- Washington Monument
- The National Museum of Natural History
- National Museum of American History
- National Air and Space in Museum in Chantilly, Virginia
Gluten Free Travelling & Products
Subscribe Now
Gluten Free Washington DC
I filled my days in Washington with the oodles of free museums. I did not see everything I wanted to, so we may be back one day to finish the job.
I have been all over the globe and give my itineraries to everyone on my website. So you might as well sign-up for my newsletter.
New places pop up all of the time, so tell if you find one. Reach out and send me an email at GlutenFreeTraveller.
Get social with me on Facebook, YouTube Instagram and Pinterest.
Cheers, I hope you enjoyed my lovely trek,
Brett – The Ultimate Gluten Free Traveller
2 thoughts on “Gluten Free Travelling in Washington, DC, USA”
The museums are free?! That would be so awesome. If I ever travel there I would love to visit the Museum of Natural History!
Yes, I was happy to see that all of the museums are free. We even had the tour of congress completely free of charge.