The definitive guide to Philly’s gluten-free restaurants and bakeries

Kerri Sitrin’s doctor called just as she was about to eat a hoagie. He had bad news, and some immediate advice: “Drop the sandwich.”

Sitrin had celiac disease, an autoimmune and intestinal disorder triggered by eating gluten, a protein found in certain grains, like wheat, barley, and rye. For celiacs, gluten can stoke intestinal inflammation and serious discomfort, and prevent the absorption of essential nutrients. That hoagie, which went unfinished, was the last deliberate bite of gluten she’s eaten in almost 20 years.

Unfortunately, when she was diagnosed in 2005, few people were aware of how to accommodate a gluten-free diet. “Restaurants were afraid of me as a liability and I’d usually just have a salad with grilled chicken to go,” says Sitrin, who now runs her own restaurant marketing company.

A lot has changed since then: Greater awareness and more accurate testing has generated a steady growth in diagnoses, while the overall popularity of gluten-free diets has given the food world incentive to not just accommodate but innovate. From topflight Thai to pasta, doughnuts, and even fried chicken, we’ve entered a golden age of gluten-free eating, as shown by this two-part guide, which comprises more than 70 options around Philadelphia that my family has come to trust since my daughter Alice was diagnosed with celiac three years ago.

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Alice, who is obsessed with baking, was devastated by her diagnosis. But after the initial shock of worrying she’d never be able to eat pizza or cake again, she shifted her focus to gluten-free baking, refining her skills for several months as a pastry assistant at P.S. & Co. near Rittenhouse Square. She also continued to pursue dining out, compiling a database of detailed notes on her gluten-free experiences at more than 300 restaurants in six states — many of which are on this list.

Navigating the restaurant landscape to avoid gluten is much more than an inconvenience. It can feel perilous, exhausting, even demoralizing to constantly request modifications and ask seemingly repetitive questions. Is the soy sauce gluten-free? Are the tortilla chips fried in the same oil as the churros, or is there a dedicated gluten-free fryer? What protocols does a kitchen have to avoid cross contamination?

There’s always a risk eating in restaurants that are less than 100% gluten-free; everyone has a different sensitivity level. But the fact that my family has had so many positive experiences is a testament to the growing proficiency in the restaurant community at carefully handling gluten-free requests, as well as advances in ingredients, techniques, and technology, from the latest blends of gluten-free flour to reservation apps that can give restaurateurs advance notice of allergies.

Inevitably, the places that have gone the extra mile are owned by those who also have a personal connection to the cause. Omer Taffet began his eponymous gluten-free bakery in 2011 because his mother is celiac. Chef Peter McAndrews became one of Taffet’s first devoted customers and an early adopter of gluten-free Italian options at Paesano’s and Modo Mio because several of his children are celiac: “I’ve got to put my best food forward so at least my family can come in and eat.”

» READ MORE: A gluten-free guide to the Jersey Shore

Cat Huang of DanDan was similarly motivated by her son’s health to refine methods for gluten-free Chinese cooking. Not only can her chefs modify recipes with gluten-free soy sauce and compensate for the omission of other condiments that typically contain gluten — a wide range that includes hoisin, oyster sauce, and black bean paste — they use color-coded cues, rigorous wok washing, and an automated system that communicates “gluten-free” clearly in multiple languages: “You don’t want to rely too much on humans,” Huang says.

While working through chronic sickness as a traditional pastry chef, Lila Colello’s own celiac diagnosis is what spurred her to several gluten-free innovations at Flakely. Just as impactful, her business has fostered a sense of community. “I hear from people about how [my pastries] have touched their lives,” she said. “It’s given me a great purpose.”

That local support network has grown strong around indispensable resources like Michael Savett’s Gluten Free Philly. Savett’s app details 2,000 restaurants and supplements user-driven national sites like Find Me Gluten Free. Local advocates like Sitrin post their own lists of GF favorites. And now, after three years of research primarily within the city, I offer my own extensive guide of family-tested gluten-free hits, divided into two lists — one for restaurants, and one for bakeries.

It’s time to pick up a sandwich again — or doughnut, pizza, or crispy fried chicken. Philly’s gluten-free universe has never been more expansive, and it only gets more enticing with each passing day.