Go against the grain with this bready made list of GF menus
Gluten - the cereal killer. When it comes to delicious food, why should anybody with a dietary requirement or allergy miss out? Living a gluten-free life is a lot easier these days than it used to be, with many restaurants, cafes and bars offering menus that can cater for customers with gluten-intolerance and coeliac disease.
From gluten-free bread, gluten-free pizza and gluten-free beer, to treats that are entirely gluten, vegan AND sugar free, we’ve put on our grain brain to bring you the pick of Liverpool’s gluten-free restaurants.
Honest Burgers
There are more than a few Honest Burgers knocking about the UK, but you’ll find the Scouse branch at the top end of Bold Street. Honest Burgers does a gluten-free burger bun and its rosemary salted chips are freshly made, not frozen, and gluten-free too. They even do GF onion rings on the sides. Vegan burgers come from Beyond Meat, made with no GMOs, soy or gluten. On the drinks menu, Two Tribes PowerPlant gluten-free vegan lager. Well played, Honest Burgers, well played.
Salt House Tapas
Salt House Tapas is a handsome looking, modern yet ambient place, which takes its name from the dock. Small plates are the name of the game here and like Paddy Smith and co’s other places (Hanover Street Social, Bouchon, Bacaro) there is a separate and expansive gluten-free menu. There are loads of GF options, from crispy pork belly, ox-cheek and chicken wings, to octopus, sea bass, potato tortilla and padron peppers. You’ll usually find a couple of GF options on the puds too.
Church House, 1 Hanover St, Liverpool L1 3DW
Pho
Stephen and Juliette Wall opened Pho in June 2005 after they travelled to Vietnam and fell in love with the food. 17 years later, Pho is a small group of restaurants dotted around the country, including one on Liverpool’s Bold Street. The menu is almost entirely gluten-free, as accredited by Coeliac UK, meaning that you can choose from the likes of prawn crackers, summer rolls, beef betel, morning glory, curry, rice bowls, and of course, pho - noodle soup. They do a gluten-free Daura Damm beer and even a 0% Freestar lager which is gluten AND alcohol free. Pho-mo? Just go.
Madre
From the guys behind Belzan (also a great GF spot) comes Madre, a collaboration between the Smithdown Road faves and London favourite Breddos Tacos - influenced by the roadside taquerias of America and Mexico. Liv Con reviewer Meg Walsh said it was the “most authentic Mexican food this side of the Atlantic.” Grace Dent agreed. Corn tortillas means many of the tacos are gluten-free. As is Tommy’s margarita. Just saying…
Atlantic Pavilion, Royal Albert Dock, 6, L3 4AE
Sanskruti
Indian cuisine has a lot of options for people with a gluten-free diet and Sanskruti offers a wide range of GF dishes that are absolutely delicious. This place is completely vegetarian too, with loads of vegan options, which means you can keep everyone happy. A big menu from street food to South Indian, Punjabi, Gujarati and Rajasthani mains. Okay, the naan bread isn’t gluten-free, but you can have the dosas - a rice and lentil crepe with various fillings and flavours. So good.
Free State Kitchen
FSK serves up a modern twist on American classics with locally sourced produce at the heart of its menu. All beef burgers are gluten-free with GF buns available, and the rosemary salted fries are gluten free too. But it doesn’t stop there, as FSK has two killer GF desserts; the salted chocolate fudge brownie AND a chocolate peanut butter sundae. Grab a bottle of GF Estrella Galicia beer and watch the sun set in the secret garden.
No.1 Maryland St, Liverpool L1 9DE
Tiger Rock
Hawker food is the street staple of southeast Asia and speciality of the house at Tiger Rock. In northern England, street food happens indoors chiefly to avoid the rain, and Tiger Rock has two Liverpool restaurants, North John Street and the original on Smithdown Road. Food is divided mainly into two sections: small plates - with everything from satay skewers and Vietnamese summer rolls, to steamed hake, fish cakes, soft shell crab, and nasi lemak - and small bowls, featuring nasi goreng, pad thai, green curry and beef rendang. The roasted duck salad is a winner too.
26 North John St, Liverpool L2 9RU
Brasco Lounge
Dog-friendly, kid-friendly, vegan-friendly, gluten-friendly. Loungers might be a chain but we’re yet to find somewhere that is quite as accommodating as these guys when it comes to making everyone feel welcome. Brasco Lounge has a separate gluten-free menu that includes GF toast, GF bread rolls and GF burger buns, as well as a GF warm fudge brownie dessert and GF Daura Damm lager. The Pier Head location is pretty special too. Come for breakfast, stay for beers.
27A Mann Island, Liverpool Waterfront, Liverpool, L3 1BP
The Quarter
You can’t get much more picture perfect than the cobbled Falkner Street in the cool boho Georgian Quarter and, with its minty paint job, candy-striped canopy and European bistro-style terrace chairs, this Italian-inspired independent restaurant doesn’t let the side down. The Quarter is a family-run business specialising in pizza and pasta with specials cooked on the grill. They do gluten-free pasta, pizza bases, desserts and gluten-free beer, so if you’re looking for gluten-free Italian vibes then this is the place.
7 Falkner St, Liverpool L8 7PU
Churrasco Steakhouse
Steak needs chips, and there’s nothing worse than finding out your gluten-free side has to be mashed potato and greens (Miller & Carter, yes we are looking at you.) Churrasco is an independent business with two Liverpool venues, but it’s the Aigburth joint which wins a gold star with us for its gluten-free offering. They have separate GF menus with starters like ribs, chicken wings and garlic mushrooms; steaks served with chunky chips or sweet potato wedges, and a steakhouse burger with a gluten-free burger bun. No GF beer last time we visited but the wine list is good and they do boss cocktails so we’ll let them off.
Aigburth road / Livingston Drive, Liverpool L17 8XW
The Tavern Company
The queues outside this place tell you everything you need to know about The Tavern. Cheap, cheerful, and very popular for its hangover brekkie. They have a separate gluten-free breakfast and brunch menu which includes “The GF Big One - a glutinous glutenless” treat. We think they might mean gluttonous but you get the picture, as it comes with aged rump steak, two rashers of back bacon, two eggs, beans, grilled tomato, mushrooms and gluten free toast. They also do a GF version of eggs benny and GF French toast.
619-625, Smithdown Rd, Liverpool L15 5AG
Bundobust
Bundobust Liverpool followed hot on the heels of its successful siblings in Leeds and then Manchester, bringing street food Indian style together with curated craft beers in a colour-clashing canteen. Around half of the menu at Bundobust is gluten-free, and it’s all vegetarian too. We recommend the okra fries, onion bhajis, raghda pethis, paneer tikka, rajma and rice, and a boozy chai. Keeping costs down, everything comes in compostable cardboard containers, meaning you can bung on a lid and take home anything you don’t manage to finish. Yeah, right.
17/19 Bold Street, Liverpool, L1 4DN
Manifest
A good chef can adapt almost any dish to be gluten-free, which means there are plenty of options when it comes to celiac-friendly fine dining in Liverpool; we've tried and tested the gluten-free options at Roski, Barnacle, The Art School, Lerpwl, London Carriage Works, Six by Nico, Panoramic 34, and Wreckfish. But one place which really impressed is Manifest. This restaurant in the Baltic Quarter offers a separate gluten-free menu with plenty of options including gluten-free bread, and a wide variety of snacks, starters and main courses. On our last visit there were three choices on the GF dessert menu *round of applause*. The wine list is a proper corker too.
4a Watkinson Street, Liverpool L1 0AG
The above list is a guideline; if you have a food intolerence or allergy then always check with front of house staff for allergens.
Read next: Plant power - 15 of the best vegetarian and vegan restaurants in Liverpool
Read again: Ten of the best street food stops in Liverpool
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