Where to eat gluten free in Key West
Eating gluten free in key West has been so much easier than I thought it would be! We just got back from our 4th time there in 11 months (can you tell we love it there lol?)
I’m going to list out all of the places we liked, I’ll also include any places we didn’t have a good experience at or it had a very limited menu. Please remember, these are my personal experiences. It’s completely possible these places are better or worse the day you dine there. This was the first trip we ever ventured outside of Key West and went up to the upper keys. I’ll include the one place we dined at too! Most importantly, 99% of these are someone’s small business/family restaurant. The pace in Key West is on island time which means things are much slower there. Since the pandemic many locations have been shorter staffed than usual and they are all just trying their best to stay afloat. If you’re dining in any restaurant in Key West, be patient 🙂
Pricing: We live in NY where food prices seem to be high compared to the rest of the country. For the most part, Key West prices were inline with restaurants in NY. So if I say it was reasonably priced, I’m comparing it to NY.
How Gluten Free are we?
Let’s start with how gluten free are we? I have a severe intolerance. I can not eat even a tiny crumb of food, however to date I usually do not get sick from things in the same fryer but I couldn’t eat a Gluten free pizza cooked in the same oven. My son, while we treat his the same, he has less of an intolerance. He’s had by accident a bite of something gluten and hasn’t gotten nearly as sick as me, but we always just go with how bad my allergy is when eating out. With that said if you are Celiac please double check with the restaurant before eating anything because my Celiac test results came back inconclusive and I’d never want to steer you wrong. Also establishments change chefs, owners, staff etc all the time and what worked for me on one trip could be different for you at a later date.
Gluten free in key west in alphabetical order
Abby Road snack Shack at the Hyatt Windward Pointe Key West
We spent our extended trip days of our 4th trip here, at the hyatt when Opal Key could not accommodate us at the last minute, extending our stay. They have a small Snack shop on property which offers Breakfast, lunch and dinner. We only tried the lunch and dinner options but both were great. The waitress and chef were very knowledgeable and service was always quick for Key West. For lunch we did salads with shrimp with no issue and burgers without buns along with their grilled chicken tenders. They did say the fries were cross contaminated but since we don’t have an issue with friers usually we got them several times and had not a single issue. The menus are very small but convenient if you’re on property and need a quick bit to eat. Since all of the rooms have full kitchens we didn’t need to use this very often. Prices were reasonable. See it Here
Bagatelle Key West
This location is so cool! The house it’s in is really fun and the menu was marked. I didn’t think there were a lot of options and it wasn’t the type of place I’d bring kids to, but it was a great date night type spot for me and my husband when we went for my 40th birthday. We did need a reservation. Prices were fair, a little fancier menu then your average place so pricing was in line for that. See it here Here
Banana Café Key West
Menu is marked so it makes it really easy! Food was super fresh but it does get really busy! Since I don’t eat eggs, my only real options were salads but they were great! My son was able to get eggs. See it all Here
Benihana Key West
So delicious and they are very careful. My son also cannot tolerate dairy and I cannot have egg and they were easily able to modify for both. Aside from delicious food, it’s always a fun experience and a great one for kids! We always made a reservation before going. See the Menu Here
Better than Sex A Dessert Restaurant Key West
This place is pretty cool, it’s JUST desserts! I’d say it’s not appropriate for children, although we did see one family with small children in there so maybe I’m wrong on that. I wouldn’t want to explain the questions that would come with the sexy names of things on the menu. Reservations are needed and it books up pretty fast! The names on the menu had me laughing inside like an uncomfortable teenager! It had a very cool vibe and fun décor inside. It’s not something we would go to every time we are in key west, just because it was still limited on choices but it was a fun experience – once or twice. See it Here
Bistro 245 Key West
We stayed at Opal key for our 4th trip so it made sense to eat at Bistro 245 since it’s right there. We only had breakfast but we were there almost daily! They make the most amazing GF french toast I have ever eaten! My 10 year old most days would get 2 orders! My son did get a few times a GF turkey with avocado on gluten free bread, but other than those 2 things I can’t say more about the menu as we didn’t try. For breakfast they do have some egg options, lunch they have salads and the good but thin gluten free bread. The view is to DIE FOR, (assuming you don’t have a cruise ship blocking it) I highly recommend going here if you have opportunity.
Carolines Café Key West
Not very helpful when calling ahead to ask about food. They said with an attitude they couldn’t go over the menu. I let them know I was asking for options for a child (Since I will eat almost everything modified) And they offered a burger without a bun, a salad or mahi mahi. Since they gave us such an attitude and he doesn’t eat salad or mahi we decided to skip. See it Here
Conch Republic Seafood Company Key West
Menu is marked and they were able to adjust some items for us. Try the conch soup, it’s AMAZING!!! They do not have a bread option as of now but we were able to do a burger without a bun aside from the listed Gluten free items on their menu. Food is excellent and it’s a fun atmosphere. Can get super busy though! They have their own parking lot which is RARE in Key west. Prices were very reasonable. Menu Here
Dante’s Key West
This is a fun place to come and hear good music, have some drinks and hang in a big pool. Although we were there in the hot summer, the pool was a refreshing temperature. I was slightly grossed out by the film in the water from everyone’s sunscreen. Personal Note: The water did not feel or appear clean with fruit from drinks, hair and cans floating in the water. We came for drinks and the pool, I ordered nachos and they said they were safe. I had no issues. Nothing was marked on the menu and I wasn’t told if anything else was gluten free so I can’t really say more about the food. See it all Here
Denny’s Key West
It’s funny because we have Denny’s near us and we’ve never tried it! Every time we come to key west we come here for breakfast. They have really good gf english muffins. My son always gets eggs made without milk or butter. I usually get an english muffin and bacon since I can’t have eggs. Not a giant selection but not super limited either. We usually have to wait a while for food, but it’s clean and very affordable. We were also able to get food on uber eats from here. You’re def going to get the best bang for your buck here. See it Here
El Meson De Pepe Key West
We have eaten here at least 10 times and we have never got sick. Most waiters are knowledgeable or go and ask. A bunch of things can be modified by leaving out an ingredient or 2. Menu is not marked and they do not offer any gluten free bread options. We always get the roasted pork with yellow rice. The location is perfect, the drinks are delicious but they don’t take reservations and it can be really busy at some times so be patient, it is SO WORTH the wait! Prices are very fair, See it all Here
Fort Zachery Taylor Park & Beach Key West
We’ve toured the fort several times and the beach is one of the best in key West being there aren’t many choices. Bring water shoes as the sand is crushed coral and a bit painful to walk on. If it’s a windy day the water can be very rough, we only encountered that a few times in all of our trips there. In the dead of the summer the seaweed is an issue at all beaches in Key West. It’s super stinky and not pleasant to walk through. Fort Zachery did seem to have the “cleanest” beaches with the least amount of seaweed in August.
They have a little food hut there with limited options but I was able to get my son hamburgers, no bun (could have had it over lettuce but he doesn’t eat lettuce) There was also the option of doing chicken salad and egg salad over lettuce. I opted for the Chicken salad and while the lettuce wasn’t the freshest it was nice to have food options when we didn’t plan ahead and grab food. I was also able to get a big pickle! Plenty of drinks, ice cream and a frozen fruit pop my son was able to have since that was dairy free. You will pay a daily fee to enter the state park and it’s based on how many people are in your car. You can bring in a cooler and your own food which is really nice and my suggestion since food options are limited if you’re gluten free. We like stopping in plublix up in town and grabbing food before heading there. They have bathrooms and showers there for public use as well as chair rentals, umbrellas, floats and towels. I suggest bringing those if you have them as the cost was really high. See it all Here
Frenchies Key West
Frenchies is located behind H2o Suites where we stayed for my 40th birthday (but not affiliated with it) so we gave it a try on the day we checked out of the hotel but had some time before heading to the airport. They do not have a gluten free menu nor did they offer any bread, but a good amount of their sandwiches were an option over lettuce along with their salads. The place is tiny but so cute! We recently went back with my son and there was a new dog there sitting on his bed. So cute and he was such a sweet boy. We didn’t get sick or have any issues but if you ask them they will tell you they don’t have gluten free. Prices were very reasonable, See it Here
Hot Tin Roof Key West
I was dying to try Hot tin roof after hearing so many amazing reviews about it! I think we went in with much higher expectations, because we felt it was just ok. The views were great, but we sat outside and shortly after being seated they came and rolled down this shade completely blocking our view and any breeze because the people sitting inside in the air conditioning needed the “shade” from the sun setting. 1st, Key west is know for their sunsets so to block that was annoying but we were outside in August, we needed any breeze there was to have. When asked they told us all they could do was move our table. As for gluten free, the menu is not marked but the waiter knew what could be made gluten free and what had to be modified and what they could substitute. It’s all small plate and a bit pricy so it’s not somewhere we would probably return to. Was the food good? YES. But after we left just a few hours later we were looking for more food since we were still hungry. See it Here
Kermit’s Key West Key Lime Shoppe
I’m not a big fan of key Lime pie, that being said it was really good and my non gf eating husband said it was delicious! My son can’t have it anymore because it contains dairy, but this was from one of our trips before we stopped dairy with him. They even ship if you’re interested! See it all here Here
Latitudes Key West
This was very hard to get a reservation into and you can’t go there without one. It’s located over on Sunset key, a tiny island just off Key West that only houses private homes, Rental cottages and Latitudes. Super exclusive and so beautiful! I would love to stay on that island one day soon! We were able to score a lunch reservation and based on the menu, my family and I think that was the best choice for us. My son and I both had the same thing; The turkey avocado club. The menu is marked, however the sandwiches were not marked but a quick check with the kitchen and we found out this sandwich was in fact 100% gluten free if we switched out the bread. We were also able to get dessert which if you’re gluten free you know that’s super rare! My son had sorbet and I had the crème Burlee. I will say his was delicious, mine not so much. It had a very strong taste of something burned, and I’d pass on it unless I got a fluke. After lunch we were able to walk around a bit on the small beach right there, the lobby and the docks. We took incredible pictures! See it all Here
To get there: you check in at the dock of Opal Key resort behind the hotel. You can not board the boat until it’s your specified reservation time and they are very strict about this (nor can you go over to the island without a reservation at the restaurant, live there or are a guest of one of the rentals). Arrive a few minutes early, sometimes there can be a big line and the boat that takes you over is small. I’m not sure what happens if they fill up the boat before accommodating the entire line (I’d assume they send the boat back but that didn’t happen on the day we were there) I was able to make the reservation direct through open table. They only open up dates a few months out so stalk your dates constantly as people cancel or switch and things tend to open the closer you get to your travel date. We had the 11:45am and were seated by 12:30. Food came out quick and everyone raved about the food, begging to go back but unfortunately there were no other dates or times open for our trip. Pricing was on the higher end for lunch, but the quality is excellent and is a fair price for what you get, see the Menu Here
Gluten free sandwiches & Dessert
Mangia Mangia Key West
We keep coming back here because the homemade pasta is AMAZING!!! We’ve eaten inside and outside and both options are great, although we do love their outdoor seating more. The food does take a little bit of time, but it’s all so fresh and homemade so it’s worth the wait. Even my husband who doesn’t normally love pasta loves to go here! He’s even shared the gluten free options with me, and swears he can’t tell they are gluten free. They have a lot of options, everything has been amazing and seafood was very fresh. Reservations are recommended because it’s a small place but worth it if you don’t have one and have to wait. Def ask to sit outside if the weather is good, it’s the cutest backyard! Pricing is very fair for homemade super fresh food and pasta! See the Menu Here
MoonDog Café Key West
Menu current as of March 2022
Hands down in the top 5 for us. I do believe there is cross contamination there at least with their baked goods in the glass display case. One of the times we stopped in to grab some fresh cookies, they used the same tongs used on gluten products so beware of this and request they use paper or clean tongs. Everything is so good here! I love that the gluten free items are labeled on the menu and they usually have specials!
My son is also dairy free and they have a dairy free option for cheese so he’s able to get the gluten free pizza too! I’ve had their tacos, pizzas, muffins, most all of the gluten free pastries and cookies they offer and pancakes. The pancakes are nearly impossible to get unless you arrive early because they only make so much per day and once it’s gone that’s it. We finally got some on our 3rd trip and I was actually disappointed! They were very lemony and I think mine were undercooked. I wouldn’t get them again. They have egg tacos as another option for breakfast that my son enjoyed a lot. There is no parking at all, so walk, bike use the Duval loop bus or plan to park on a side street. Be aware, a lot of spaces are marked for residents with permit and never park in a private lot or in front of yellow curb. They don’t mess around with towing/fines there. The place is adorable and offers seating inside and out and at the bar. Small location though and long wait times Durning peak hours and seasons. Pricing is average, not cheap but def not the most expensive place. Menu Here
Off the Hook Bar & Grill key West
WOW!! I wish I knew of this place on our previous 3 trips because we would have been here every single time! Not only were they able to do gluten free, they also had a dairy free cheese so my son was able to do a GF/DF pizza! He requested lobster on his pizza and they were able to make that special for him! I had the most amazing Mexican Street Corn & Crab Chowder (although I did have some stomach issues after, I’m not convinced it was due to gluten as I didn’t have my normal issues, it’s possible the peppers didn’t sit well with me) For dinner I did lobster & Crab Mac & Cheese. They subbed out pasta for Gnocchi and it was amazing but I forgot to take a picture of it! Pricing was very fair. See the Menu Here
Pinchers Key West
Pinchers appears to be a chain, although we don’t have any where we are from so it was all new to us. We’ve eaten here every single trip and we usually go a few times. They have great live music downstairs, outdoor and indoor seating upstairs and décor is really fun! They have a separate Gluten Free menu so be sure to ask for it. My son always gets the crabs legs with a side of fries and apple sauce. He usually needs 2 orders of the crab legs because the 1lb just isn’t enough for his 10 year old self! I’ve gotten those along with the broiled scallops and the most amazing Crab cheese dip!! I don’t know about cross contamination because the items we ordered we all cooked on their own. Pricing is very reasonable for what you get except for the crab legs. We had been here before and I’m not really sure what happened, but for 2021 – Jan 2022 the crab leg prices went through the roof. To the point where we didn’t get a 2nd order for my son because I want to say it was about $70ish for 1 lb! Menu photos above, current as of March 2022 and also Here
7 Fish Key West
I called in advance to be sure we could eat here and the person who answered gave me a pretty lengthy list of options. We did make a reservation on open table as it’s another small place and I wasn’t sure if they could have sat us without one for dinner, so I’m glad I grabbed that. Parking is terrible but it’s Key west. If you drive there, plan to leave yourself some extra time to find a spot as the lot on property only has 3 spots. One of the best meals we’ve had while in Key West and they were so accommodating, not only to the gluten free but also dairy for my son. I wish we had found them sooner! We went on one of our last nights of our trip so we haven’t gone back yet, but we are 100% that we will when we return to Key West. They modified the muscles app for us to be dairy free, already gf. We dug into our food so quick I forgot to take pictures until we had already started! My son and I both had the scallops, fish and shrimp skewers over sushi rice. DELICIOUS!!! It came with some steamed veggies. Prices are on the higher end but it’s excellent quality food. See it here Here
Southern Most Beach Café Key West
Options are very limited. I had read they had GF buns but on the day we were there they didn’t have them. We went with a burger no bun and a salad without issue. You do sit right on the beach under a pavilion. We encountered people on the beach smoking and it blowing inside the pavilion so that was less than desirable but it’s a great location being right on the beach. Very casual and prices were affordable. See it Here
Square Grouper Bar & Grill Cudjoe Key
The menu is amazing and they were able to modify things too! We stopped in there for lunch on our way to exploring Blue hole, Bahia Honda State park and the National Key Refugee on the day we rented a jeep. They even had amazing Gluten free cookies! We got 2 orders to go and ate them for several days! My son had the grilled shrimp (dairy free) and fries. I did their caesar salad with grilled shrimp. Delicious! Prices were very affordable for lunch. Menu Here
The Stoned Crab Key West
We had driven by the Stoned crab at least 2 dozen times in our 4 stays and always talked about how cool it looked but for some reason I never looked at the menu. In an attempt to try all new things on our 4th trip, they finally made the list! It is a decent distance from the heart of Key West so keep that in mind if you are staying on or off Duval on near Malory square. You’ll need a bike, electric car/Car, scooter or uber to get you there. You could walk it but it was nearly 3 miles one way from where we were staying at Opal Key. We did previously stay at Parrot key and it could have been walking/biking distance from there. The road is VERY busy, 4 lanes and heavily traveled all day and night.
The restaurant is situated on their hotels property and far enough off the road to not hear a ton of road noise although it wasn’t quiet. The décor is really cool but our waitress was not overly aware of what could be made gluten free and the menu was not marked. We picked out a few things and had her check with the kitchen. Since seafood is always safe we just assumed we could eat here. We both got bakes and opted to have no seasoning and steamed no butter on both. The bake came in a pot with a lid and had potatoes, corn on the cob (that was terrible and tasted like the corn they feed cows) and the seafood options we picked. My son had crab legs, pink shrimp and clams, mine had a half lobster, pink shrimp and fish. The seafood was fresh and really good but I have to say, the prices were very very expensive for what they offered vs other establishments of the same nature and casual setting in Key West. The food was way more than either of us could finish and we didn’t even eat the potatoes. Make sure to ask for heads off on the shrimp and be prepared to clean the shells off yourself (for the price you shouldn’t have to do this). I personally would pass on this place next time we visit, just too pricy, on a busy road and i don’t want to do the work if I’m paying that much. Menu Here
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