Gluten Free Minneapolis & St. Paul: 2026 Celiac Restaurant Guide

Minneapolis punches way above its weight for a Midwest city when it comes to gluten-free dining. It’s not just “restaurants with a GF menu section” — the Twin Cities have a genuine cluster of kitchens that are entirely gluten free, run in several cases by chefs who are celiac themselves or cook for someone who is.

What makes this list useful isn’t a star rating. It’s the stuff that only comes from people who actually eat here regularly: which fryer is shared, which “gluten-free” pizza still isn’t safe for celiacs, which bakery’s bread is worth building a trip around. That’s the kind of detail below.

Updated September 2026 — please read. We re-checked every restaurant in this guide against its own website and recent community listings, and several things changed:

• Wrecktangle Pizza is not a dedicated gluten-free kitchen. An earlier version of this guide called it the safe pizza answer. That was wrong: community listings report the gluten-free crust is baked in the same oven as regular pizza. It’s now in the Be More Careful section.
• Owamni has moved and is now Indígena by Owamni at the Guthrie Theater.
• Tixtli, Sassy Spoon and Burning Brothers Brewing have closed (details below).
• Oro by Nixta, Modern Times, Quang, Red Rabbit and a few others were re-labeled based on celiac reports and the restaurants’ own statements. A few suburban places we’d mislabeled as Minneapolis or put in the wrong city were also fixed.

Table of contents

Fully Gluten-Free Kitchens

These are the places where the kitchen itself is dedicated gluten free — no cross-contact to think about. All are confirmed by the restaurant’s own site or repeatedly by community listings.

• Atuvava — South Minneapolis (3800 S 28th Ave). Run by celiacs; the site says its kitchen is dedicated gluten free and celiac-safe. Breads, bagels and pastries. Limited hours (about Wednesday through Saturday, 11–6), so check before you go.
• Sift Gluten Free — 4557 Bloomington Ave. A dedicated gluten-free and peanut-free bakery, open since 2017, with dairy-free, soy-free and vegan options. Open Tuesday through Sunday mornings into early afternoon.
• Brim — 2919 Knox Ave S, near Bde Maka Ska, with a second location in Edina. The whole menu is gluten free, so there’s nothing to navigate, and it’s easy on the wallet compared to some others on this list.
• Hold the Wheat — 4050 Brookside Ave, St. Louis Park. A dedicated GF bakery with pastries (sweet and savory), an espresso bar, and a dinner takeout service several evenings a week — check the site for the current schedule.
• Olivia’s Organic Cafe — 11849 Millpond Ave, Burnsville (not Eagan, as an earlier version said). Its FAQ describes a dedicated gluten-free and peanut-free kitchen. Limited hours — currently Friday through Sunday — so call ahead (952-346-8800).
• Where’s The Flour (Eden Prairie) — a celiac-safe kitchen (gluten-free, nut-free, shellfish-free) known for fried chicken tenders, wings and cheese curds. The site is wheres-the-flour.com; the restaurant has moved, so confirm the current address before you go.
• Randy’s Gluten Free — Oakdale. A 100% gluten-free pizzeria that runs as a limited-service kitchen with hot, take-and-bake and frozen pies. If you want pizza without shared-oven risk, this is the dedicated option — see The Pizza Situation.
• S.A.W. Brewing — 1750 Thomas Ave, St. Paul. A fully gluten-free brewery (no barley, wheat or rye) from the former Burning Brothers brewer, in the same space Burning Brothers left. Opened in 2026; check the site for taproom hours.

Naturally Gluten-Free Menus — Confirm Before You Go

Corn-, rice- and masa-based cooking makes these kitchens easier than most, but not all of them are certified dedicated, and a few have menu items that do contain gluten.

• Indígena by Owamni — 806 S 2nd St, in the Guthrie Theater building. The James Beard–winning Indigenous restaurant left its Water Works riverfront space in spring 2026 and reopened here on June 23. Chef Sean Sherman’s kitchen still cooks without wheat flour, cane sugar or dairy and centers pre-colonial ingredients, but the menu is broader now — steaks, bison, elk, an oyster bar — and the restaurant’s site doesn’t publish an explicit gluten-free statement. Community listings still treat it as celiac-friendly; call (612-444-1846) and confirm your order. The old advice about walk-in riverfront patio seating no longer applies.
• Colita — 5400 Penn Ave S. Oaxacan-inspired shared plates built on in-house nixtamalized corn tortillas. Community listings report the whole kitchen is gluten free; the restaurant’s own site doesn’t say so, so mention celiac disease when you book (dine@colitampls.com).
• Oro by Nixta — 1222 2nd St NE, Northeast Arts District. A masa-driven tortilleria where the main dishes are corn-based, but it is not a certified gluten-free kitchen — community listings note two dessert cakes contain gluten (and are marked). Staff are reported as celiac-aware. Earlier versions of this guide said there was no gluten in the building; that overstated it.
• Hola Arepa — 3501 Nicollet Ave. Venezuelan arepas. Community listings report dedicated gluten-free fryers and that everything is gluten free except a few sandwiches, which are made in a separate part of the kitchen. Ask for the celiac flag on your order.
• Teque Arepa — 7733 Flying Cloud Dr, Eden Prairie. Made-to-order arepas, which are gluten free by nature; only count on the arepas themselves, and ask about anything else on the menu.

Shared Kitchens Celiacs Trust — With Caveats

These are shared kitchens with specific, documented gluten-free protocols. Ask about the fryer at every visit; procedures can vary by location and shift.

• Hai Hai — 2121 University Ave NE. Southeast Asian street food from a James Beard–winning chef, and a sister restaurant to Hola Arepa. Visit Minneapolis’s own gluten-free guide notes a dedicated gluten-free fryer.
• Brasa — Northeast Minneapolis (St. Anthony Main), Southwest Minneapolis, St. Paul and Hopkins. Community listings report a separate fryer, and that the entire menu is gluten free except the sandwich rolls, sliced bread and cornbread, with gloves changed for celiac orders. Reviews are mixed, so speak up.
• Red Cow — 50th & France, the North Loop and other locations. The 50th & France location reports a separate gluten-free fryer for fries, tots and wings; fryer setup can vary by location, so confirm at yours.
• Hell’s Kitchen — 80 S 9th St, downtown. A longtime brunch institution with a gluten-free menu, gluten-free buns for an upcharge and a dedicated fryer per community listings — though the restaurant says it isn’t a gluten-free facility. It’s open and employee-owned; its spin-off, Hell’s Cafeteria, closed in 2024.
• Francis Burger Joint — Northeast and Longfellow locations. A plant-based burger joint with a dedicated gluten-free fryer for the fries and gluten-free options for the burgers.
• Little Tijuana Neighborhood Lounge — 17 E 26th St. Community listings report a dedicated gluten-free fryer and a fried chicken thigh sandwich on a gluten-free bun on request. Confirm with the kitchen; some sauces and dips may contain gluten.
• ZZQ Smokehouse (Eagan) — a suburban barbecue spot (zzqbbq.com) with a dedicated gluten-free fryer; everything is gluten free except the regular buns.
• Buffalo Tap — in Savage, south of Minneapolis (not in the city, as an earlier version implied). An extensive gluten-free menu with a dedicated fryer, and gluten-free orders come out on blue plates.

Be More Careful: Shared Kitchens With Celiac Reports

These are open and popular, but celiac diners have reported problems, or the restaurants themselves say they can’t guarantee zero cross-contact. That doesn’t mean everyone reacts — it means “gluten-free” on the menu isn’t enough to go on if you’re highly sensitive.

• Wrecktangle Pizza — several locations, including Lyn-Lake, Malcolm Yards and Graze. Gluten-free crust is an upcharge, and community listings report it is baked in the same oven as regular pizza, on non-stick pans that are sprayed clean, with a separate cutter. The National Celiac Association is clear that pizza baked in the same oven as regular pizza isn’t safe for celiacs. Earlier versions of this guide listed it as fully dedicated; we’ve corrected that.
• Pizza Lucé — the chain dusts its dough with rice flour and offers a gluten-free crust, and many people eat there without issue, but it isn’t dedicated and celiac diners have reported reactions at more than one location. Treat those as community reports, not a certain outcome.
• Red Rabbit — Italian, in the North Loop and St. Paul. Community listings report the gluten-free penne is cooked in separate water, but staff have recommended against the pizza for celiacs. We found no evidence of a dedicated gluten-free fryer, so an earlier claim that it had one has been removed.
• Chimborazo — 2851 Central Ave NE. Ecuadorian food, and much of the menu is naturally gluten free. The issue is the fryer: reviews report empanadas, yuca fries and tostones share fryer oil, while staff accounts conflict on whether separate fryers exist. Sweet plantains and llapingachos don’t use the fryer; ask about grilling instead.
• Khâluna and Gai Noi — both Laotian, not Thai or Vietnamese as an earlier version said. Both mark gluten-free items but neither is a dedicated kitchen; Gai Noi’s own manager, who has celiac disease, says gluten is used in the kitchen and cross-contact can’t be guaranteed.
• Quang — Vietnamese, on Eat Street. Some items are marked gluten free, but celiac reviewers report cross-contact and inaccurate markings, particularly around pho. We’ve moved it out of the “trusted” list.
• Modern Times — Powderhorn. The menu has generous gluten-free options and house gluten-free bread, but several celiac reviewers report cross-contamination. The restaurant also went through changes in 2026: it ran as “Post Modern Times” with pay-what-you-can pricing, closed temporarily in July, and reopened August 26 with regular pricing.

The Pizza Situation

Pizza is the one category where getting it wrong matters most, and where the celiac community is most cautious.

Randy’s Gluten Free is the dedicated answer — a 100% gluten-free pizzeria in Oakdale, so no shared-oven question to ask.

Wrecktangle, Pizza Lucé and Red Rabbit are all shared-kitchen pizza options with the caveats above. If you’re highly reactive, treat a same-oven gluten-free pizza as a risk you’re choosing, not a safe default. If you do eat shared-kitchen pizza, ask about the oven, pans and cutters specifically, and skip it if the answers are vague.

Bakeries Worth a Detour

For hours, what to order and which bakeries have closed, see our full guide to gluten-free bakeries in Minneapolis.

• Sift Gluten Free and Atuvava — both fully dedicated, both mentioned above.
• Hold the Wheat (St. Louis Park) — pastries plus takeout dinner service.
• Heaven — a locally made, European-style gluten-free sourdough baked in a dedicated facility, with no yeast, dairy, soy or eggs. It’s sold at Brim, Hold the Wheat, both Wedge Co-op locations (Linden Hills and Lyndale), Eastside Co-op, Mississippi Market and Lakewinds, and ships nationwide — see the stockist list. It travels well and isn’t the dense, crumbly stuff you might be used to from a grocery store shelf.
• Hark Bakery — a vegan and gluten-free bakery that works by order only, from a shared commercial kitchen in Plymouth, for weddings and special occasions. See harkbakery.com.

Downtown Minneapolis and the Stone Arch Bridge. Photo: Jdkoenig, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Minnehaha Falls. Photo: Mikael Häggström, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons

Gluten Free in St. Paul

Most of the dedicated kitchens are on the Minneapolis side, but St. Paul has a few good options:

• S.A.W. Brewing — 1750 Thomas Ave. A fully gluten-free brewery, with no barley, wheat or rye in the building.
• Brasa — the St. Paul location follows the same setup as the others: a separate fryer, and everything gluten free except the sandwich rolls, sliced bread and cornbread.
• Red Rabbit — the St. Paul location has the same caveats as the North Loop one (gluten-free pasta in separate water, but skip the pizza if you’re celiac).

If you’re heading south to Mayo Clinic, see our guide to eating gluten free in Rochester, MN.

Closed Since Older Lists Were Written

Older “best of” lists still recommend these, so we’re keeping them here on purpose:

• Tixtli by Nixta (Graze Food Hall) — reported closed; its team hopes to revive it. The sister restaurant Oro by Nixta is still open.
• Sassy Spoon — closed on November 20, 2021, after nearly seven years.
• Burning Brothers Brewing (St. Paul) — the fully gluten-free brewery closed on May 10, 2025. S.A.W. Brewing, from the former Burning Brothers brewer, now operates in the same space.
• Owamni at Water Works — closed as the lease ended in spring 2026; see Indígena by Owamni above.

How to Find More

The Twin Cities add new gluten-free spots — and lose others — regularly. A few ways to stay current:

GF Scanner App — the built-in restaurant map groups verified gluten-free spots by neighborhood, so you can see at a glance what’s within walking distance of wherever you’re staying. It also scans barcodes and ingredient labels in the grocery aisle, which helps if you’re stocking a hotel kitchen or Airbnb. Get it on the App Store.

Community databases — Find Me Gluten Free’s Minneapolis page has live celiac-specific reviews (here’s what it’s worth), and Gluten Dude hand-vets a smaller list (review; or see the head-to-head comparison).

Local guides and support groups — Meet Minneapolis has a gluten-free food guide (partly out of date — it still lists Burning Brothers), Celiac Sweetie covers Minnesota restaurants, and R.O.C.K. Twin Cities is a support group for families with celiac kids. The National Celiac Association and the Celiac Disease Foundation list wider resources.

Local subreddits — r/Minneapolis and r/glutenfree both have searchable threads where locals answer exactly this question, usually with the kind of shared-fryer and cross-contact detail that doesn’t make it onto a restaurant’s own website.

Ask about the fryer, specifically. Across nearly every recommendation on this list, the detail that actually matters is whether the fryer is dedicated — and, for pizza, whether the oven is. A menu item marked “GF” that comes out of a shared fryer is a different risk profile than one that doesn’t.

Summary: Where to Eat Gluten Free in Minneapolis

Minneapolis isn’t a city where you have to plan every meal around a handful of “safe” restaurants — the dedicated kitchens here are genuinely good, and the shared-kitchen options are worth knowing about when you know which caveat applies to which. Start with the fully dedicated kitchens if you want zero decisions to make, and branch out to the shared-kitchen spots once you’ve got a feel for how careful a given place actually is.

Checking a grocery run between meals? GF Scanner scans a barcode and tells you in seconds if a packaged product is celiac-safe — handy for stocking up before a day of exploring the lakes. Exploring the wider region? See our gluten-free bakeries roundup and our Denver guide.