How easy is eating gluten-free in KC? Trying 3 restaurants with celiac disease
.png "Sophie Lindberg tried eating gluten free as a person with celiac disease at three Kansas City favorites — Succotash, Bay Boy Specialty Sandwiches and Garozzo’s Ristorante Downtown. Celiac disease is an autoimmune condition that requires a strict gluten-free diet.")
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Bay Boy uses Morgana’s buns, wraps them, and uses new gloves and a dedicated board.
- Succotash cleans the grill between every order and marks ample gluten-free menu options.
- Garozzo’s serves gluten-free pasta at a $6.50 upcharge and limits cross contamination.
I’m a Kansas City native, but just barely.
I’ve never been able to establish roots in the city the way many people do — through food. I was diagnosed with celiac disease in kindergarten, an autoimmune condition that requires a strict gluten-free diet to avoid not only painful GI symptoms but damage to my small intestine.
It’s easier to navigate now, but growing up in the 2000s and 2010s, gluten-free accommodations were few and very pricey. It took until the 2020s for me to really experience local food beyond a Caesar salad with no croutons.
In a personal journey to grow my KC food roots, I ate for a day at Kansas City metro staples and favorites. I picked a variety of cuisines — American breakfast, a quick bite and Italian — and made sure to get a different experience, price and vibe-wise at each stop. I challenged myself to stray from safe bets like Mexican or dedicated gluten-free kitchens.
My research brought me to Succotash for their pancakes, Bay Boy Specialty Sandwiches (for their sandwiches, duh) and Garrozo’s for ever-elusive gluten-free pasta.
While there are many more delicious options for my fellow “celiac freaks” (what my best friend lovingly calls me) around KC, these are just a few I wanted to try and highlight for good gluten-free food — restaurants with decent options, proper precautions and an atmosphere that’s fun to be in.
And spoiler, I didn’t get an allergic reaction a single time.
Breakfast: pancakes at brunch spot Succotash
The uplifting and friendly atmosphere of Succotash at 2601 Holmes St. lingers in the air, and it hit me immediately when I opened the ornately painted and sculpted front door tucked comfortably in the corner of the building.
I had only heard of the restaurant once before going, but taste-testing their vibe online got me hopeful that the modern space would be comfortable with gluten allergies.
The maximalist space is filled with art pieces big and small — drawings taped up, random plant pots and street signs, scrap-metal sculptures and realist paintings. I could have spent all day finding something new to look at.
The authentic, out-of-their-way kindness between staff and customers was backed by a sense of camaraderie between workers that I could feel from my bright pink booth.
Succotash draws customers of every shape and size. A young family came in with their kid and his emotional-support 3-foot skeleton toy, which the cashier gushed over. Two 20-something girlfriends shared a plate to my right, while a group of middle-aged white men traveling from Houston took up a conversation with the cashier. They came that day based on a recommendation.
Every diner dug into their food almost before the runner even placed the plate down. They shut up to eat, wasting no time between bites. When the plates returned to white, they lingered with no rush to leave the inviting space.
If it’s not obvious, I fell in love with this eclectic diner-meets-antique-store restaurant.
Rarely am I presented with enough gluten-free options that I actually need time to mull over a menu, but I had to let people pass me in the counter service line that morning. Normally, when that happens, it’s because the menu is unclear about its gluten-free options — a problem Succotash doesn’t have.
Questions can still arise, even with a gluten-free-friendly menu.
I always call ahead anywhere I go out to eat to confirm that they have gluten-free options. When I arrive, I ask for a gluten-free menu if the base menu doesn’t mark safe options — sometimes they have one, sometimes they don’t.
When I order, I stress a gluten allergy and mention specific precautions like changing gloves, utensils and workspaces. I don’t often say I have celiac because historically, it can confuse uninformed waiters. When the food is brought out, I ask to double check that the plate they give me is gluten free.
I called to clarify Succotash’s procedures for gluten allergies, and I found out that they clean the grill — where they cook almost everything, including toasting bread — between every order, even non-allergy ones. The worker mentioned that concerned customers could ask for an extra-thorough cleaning as well. She is gluten free and said she’s never had a reaction to their food.
When in-store, I asked the counter-service hostess whether the fries in the restaurant’s staple “sink” dishes were cooked in a separate fryer, and she said yes.
Rather than rush me away, she then eagerly told me about their gluten-free toast and that lots of menu items can be made gluten free by swapping non-gluten-free gravy for their homemade hollandaise. When I showed my excitement, she told me that next time I’m in, she would love to talk more about her recommendations.
I ultimately stuck with the reason I came to Succotash — gluten-free pancakes. I’m a sweet breakfast girl, what can I say?
What’s even sweeter than my teeth was the fact that two gluten-free pancakes were only $6.50 without the added $1 for the blueberries I got in mine. I almost never find gluten-free pancakes eating out, let alone affordable ones. The online menu may be outdated, as it prices my dish at $9.
Like always, when I ordered I mentioned my allergy and questioned whether they could prevent cross-contamination — when gluten-free food touches a gluten-containing surface or ingredient, making it unsafe to eat — and the hostess told me I had nothing to worry about.
The pancakes delivered to me not five minutes later filled the large plate’s circumference. The side of my fork could glide straight through the soft, fluffy stack.
It’s hard to avoid a gummy texture in gluten-free pancakes, something minorly present in this short stack. Maybe because I haven’t known any different since my kindergarten celiac diagnosis, I actually didn’t mind it.
Between my mocha latte (which I got refilled with black coffee for free!) and the pancakes, the meal was righteously filling.
Lunch: The Goldilox at Bay Boy Specialty Sandwiches
I’ve only ever had one gluten-free sandwich from a restaurant, but I can’t really afford to fly to St. Augustine, Florida whenever I want a sandwich.
I hadn’t found another until I stumbled upon Bay Boy Specialty Sandwiches on 4706 Holly St., which partners with Morgana’s Gluten Free Bakery to give a gluten-free option besides a lettuce wrap.
Gluten-free bread is hard to master. Most grocery store loaves are dense, relatively flavorless and insanely priced. What is a staple ingredient in most people’s grocery store runs is something I would consider a splurge.
I was thrilled to find that in their original June 2023 announcement, Bay Boy’s gluten-free bread was only 50 cents. Unfortunately, when I went in to try it, the price had been adjusted to the market-standard $2.
That being said, Morgana’s bread was an airy, craggly bun that held onto toppings perfectly. This bun held together, unlike most gluten-free buns at my most favorite restaurants.
I ordered the Goldilox for a final $18.99 and subbed chicken for the salmon, which paired surprisingly well with the capered cream cheese. As a bagel lover, the spread that lightly melted over my toppings was the star of my plate. With gluten-free bread, most of the menu gets opened up for gluten-free folks.
The sandwich was herby and summery — a refreshing bite with the slightly acidic note of Morgana’s bread that elevated the bread well beyond anything from the store.
Knowing about the gluten-free bread, my concern turned toward cross-contamination. Quick-bite restaurants are susceptible to cross-contamination through shared utensils for toppings. Even if they’re changed, the clean utensils can go into tubs of ingredients that have already been contaminated.
I often get scared about giving my gluten allergy spiel or asking what I fear are intrusive questions. Because of this, I opted to call instead of asking in person.
I was not treated as an inconvenience — the woman who picked up walked through their procedure and checked if she answered my question. When I followed up about topping safety, she eagerly checked with a manager who gave explicit permission (that I can bring up to whoever takes my order next time) for me to request freshly opened ingredients.
She also mentioned that people with an allergy should make a clear note of allergy on their in-person or online orders.
When I ordered at the counter, the staff said gluten-free sandwiches are prepared by someone with new gloves, using a dedicated cutting board and bread knife. I was also told that all sauces and condiments besides ranch are gluten free.
The toaster used is shared with full-gluten bread, but the conveyor belt-style oven allows workers to place gluten-free bread on aluminum foil to keep it from touching the actual oven. People with higher sensitivity to gluten may not be able to eat the bread toasted and may opt to skip toasting entirely.
I was also nervous about the fact that they make their full-gluten bread in-house, because flour in the air would undo all the work and precautions put into gluten-free sandwiches. But this isn’t a problem at Bay Boy because they individually wrap all of Morgana’s bread ahead of time. They store the nooked-and-crannied buns under a counter, separate from full-gluten bread.
Dinner: Cavatelli Catania, at Garozzo’s Ristorante Downtown
In my limited experience, restaurant gluten-free pasta is hard to come by and feels like a slap-job dish. The pasta (almost always penne) can get plasticky and doesn’t easily grip onto sauce.
Why penne? Gluten-free pasta can go from hard to mushy in a matter of minutes. Penne holds its shape better, especially when the pasta is batch-made ahead of time and then briefly reheated in boiling water before serving — which is exactly what Garozzo’s Ristorante Downtown at 526 Harrison St. does with all of their pasta, even non-gluten-free.
I shouldn’t have been shocked to learn that the pasta is not only penne but the same Barilla gluten-free pasta I can buy from the store. But given that I was sitting at a candlelit table in a dim room, being served by staff in white button-downs and black ties, the wind came out of my sails when the food director told me this.
Worse, the gluten-free up charge was a whopping $6.50 added onto the normal price. That made my pasta, including tax and tip, $30.79.
Despite my disappointment, I was shocked by the waiter-recommended and hearty, tomato-based Cavatelli Catania that I was served. This was far from a slap-job.
The look wasn’t far from the unrestricted version of their dish, which uses shells. It felt like a meal that could cure a cold — hearty, but not heavy, and simply soul-warming. Even though my forehead was slick with sweat after a mere 20-second walk from my car in June heat, I imagined myself in a blanket next to a fireplace, finding an escape from a December snowstorm in the fragrant bowl.
Each element from the pasta to the mushrooms was cooked to the right texture. The dish felt simple based on the menu’s ingredient list, but I found that the flavors and textures were greater than the sum of its parts. No one element competed for dominance.
Shockingly, the store-bought penne didn’t stand out or downgrade the dish. It would be foolish to say I could replicate that perfect al dente at home from the Barilla box.
My waiter was eager to go through the menu and several marked gluten-free options with me after hearing that I had never dined with them before, but admitted that he wasn’t as knowledgeable about which gluten-free dish to recommend.
I wasn’t bothered. I had sought out Garozzo’s specifically for pasta and actually enjoyed that he was honest about the extent of his knowledge. He asked if I would like to meet with his brother, Garozzo’s culinary director, to understand gluten-free safety and options more. He said the restaurant takes allergies seriously, and wasted no time finding him for me.
The culinary director said first and foremost, servers are supposed to mark on tickets and verbally announce to the kitchen any allergies. Different cutting boards, utensils and pasta water are used in prepping the food.
Grills cannot be guaranteed safe from cross-contamination, but cooks try to keep everything separate. Customers can always request that the grill be cleaned if they’re very sensitive to cross-contamination. Unfortunately, there is no separate gluten-free fryer, but anything breaded can be made with a gluten-free (before frying) Parmesan and herb coating.
My waiter checked that my questions were answered when he returned, and at the end of my meal, left me with a free Garozzo’s pen and the option to order their flourless chocolate lava cake. But I had to politely decline because I ate every last penna and drop of sauce.
