Gluten Free New Orleans: Celiac-Safe Restaurants, Beignets & What to Know (2026 Map)

New Orleans might be the hardest food city in the US for celiacs. Gumbo and étouffée start with a flour roux, po’boys come on French bread, most fried seafood is dredged in flour, and the city’s most famous dessert, the beignet, is fried wheat dough.

But it’s not hopeless, and in 2026 it’s better than ever. You can get gluten-free beignets in the French Quarter, gluten-free calas (the city’s historic rice fritter) right on Jackson Square, a fully gluten-free Colombian restaurant, and a Mexican spot where almost the entire menu is gluten free. Here’s where to eat and what to ask.

Jackson Square. Calas Cafe is inside the Cabildo, on the left. Photo: Spatms, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Table of contents

Interactive map: gluten free New Orleans

Tap a place to see it on the map, or use Near me to sort by distance. Orange dots are 100% gluten-free kitchens. Gray dots are shared kitchens with a dedicated gluten-free fryer or a mostly gluten-free menu.

Fully gluten-free spots

• Calas Cafe (inside the Cabildo, 701 Chartres St, Jackson Square). Calas are rice fritters with nutmeg and vanilla, a New Orleans tradition that African American women once sold in the streets, sometimes to buy their freedom. Calas Cafe makes them gluten free and serves them with lemon or pistachio curd and powdered sugar. Its residency at the Cabildo, part of the Louisiana State Museum, runs Thursday to Monday, 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. One celiac reviewer notes the coffee contains oat, so ask about drinks.
• Maïs Arepas (1200 Carondelet St, Central City). A Colombian restaurant with a fully gluten-free menu: arepas, empanadas, and desserts like tres leches and pumpkin flan. It’s one of the easiest sit-down dinners in the city for celiacs.
• Heavenly Hands Bakery (3117 18th St, Metairie) and Everyday KETO To Go (110 Athania Pkwy, Metairie). Dedicated gluten-free bakeries in the suburbs, about a 15-minute drive from the French Quarter. Worth the trip if you want bread or treats for the rest of your stay.

Shared kitchens that get it (mostly) right

• Bon’s New Orleans Street Food (620 Decatur St, French Quarter). The answer to “where can I get gluten-free beignets?” Bon’s makes gluten-free beignets and gluten-free gumbo, with a dedicated gluten-free fryer. Reviewers say the beignets are denser than the classic version, closer to a donut hole, but still good. One reviewer found the dedicated fryer out of service on their visit, so ask before ordering anything fried.
• Espíritu Mezcaleria (520 Capdeville St, Warehouse District). According to its own menu, everything is gluten free except the tortas, tres leches, and choco flan. It uses a dedicated fryer for corn and rice flour only, and staff are trained on cross-contact. A second location opened in Mid-City (139 S Cortez St) in 2026, where most dishes are gluten free.

What to know before you eat in New Orleans

The French Quarter. Photo: Tim Wilson, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

The roux is the big problem

Gumbo, étouffée, and many Creole sauces and gravies start with a roux: flour cooked in fat until it’s dark. Gluten-free gumbo is the exception, not the rule. Assume any gumbo or étouffée contains flour unless the restaurant tells you its roux is gluten free, as at Bon’s.

Beignets, po’boys, and king cake

• Beignets are fried wheat dough. The classic beignet stands in the French Quarter don’t make a gluten-free version. Go to Bon’s instead.
• Po’boys come on French bread. Unless a restaurant offers a gluten-free roll, skip them.
• King cake, the Mardi Gras pastry, is made with wheat. Look for gluten-free versions at dedicated bakeries during Carnival season, and call ahead.

Fried seafood and the fryer question

Fried shrimp, oysters, and catfish are dredged in flour or a flour-and-cornmeal mix, and most kitchens fry them in shared oil. Even when the batter is cornmeal-based, ask about the fryer.

What’s usually safer

Boiled crawfish and shrimp, raw oysters, and grilled fish are your best bets in a shared kitchen. Red beans and rice and jambalaya are rice-based, but ask about the sausage and the stock.

Try calas, not just beignets

Calas are a traditional New Orleans rice fritter rooted in West African foodways. Because they’re built on rice, a gluten-free version tastes close to the original. Calas Cafe at Jackson Square is a little bit of food history you can actually eat.

Quick Reference: Gluten Free New Orleans

Heading somewhere else in the South? See our guides to Nashville, Atlanta, Houston, and Charleston.

Sources

• Calas Café at the Cabildo (official site)
• Espíritu Mezcaleria (official site) and Espíritu opens a Mid-City location (Hoodline, April 2026)
• Bon’s New Orleans Street Food embraces inclusivity, tradition (Medill Reports)
• Dedicated Gluten-Free Places in New Orleans and Gluten-Free Beignets in New Orleans (Find Me Gluten Free)
• Map data: © OpenStreetMap contributors