Gluten-Free Foodie Guide to Healdsburg and Windsor

Sonoma County is a gluten-free foodie’s dream come true. In fact, the gluten-free traveler has so many options, that we had to split our gluten-free foodie guide to Sonoma County into different posts, by region! Use this guide to help you plan your gluten-free Healdsburg and Windsor foodie itinerary. (For West Sonoma County, use this guide. For Santa Rosa and Sonoma, use this guide.)

*Please note, that celiacs should proceed with caution and check with each restaurant before dining there or ordering something gluten-free off of the menu. Many restaurants’ gluten-free offerings are fine for those with sensitivities or allergies, but because cross-contamination may occur that may effect celiacs, it’s important to reach out in advance to confirm a restaurant’s procedures. It’s also a good idea to cross reference restaurants on the National Celiac Org’s website.

Restaurants with Gluten-Free Menus or Specialty Gluten-Free Offerings

Baci Café and Wine Bar

 Baci Café and Wine Bar is located in downtown Healdsburg and serves regional Italian and Mediterranean cuisine paired with wines from Sonoma, Napa, and Italy. The restaurant is a favorite with locals and visitors and has been ranked by Trip Advisor as one of Healdsburg’s Top 5 restaurants since 2010.

Baci’s menu helps gluten-free diners easily identify gluten-free dishes by including an asterisk next to every dish that is gluten-free. The restaurant also offers a gluten-free pasta substitution for gluten-free pasta dishes.

Between the starter plates, appetizers, and salads, there are at least 11 gluten-free options on Baci’s menu. Additionally, the restaurant offers between two to three different risotto dishes that are always gluten-free and more than half of their chicken, fish, and seafood main dishes are also gluten-free. 

Bravas Bar de Tapas

 Bravas Bar de Tapas is a Spanish tapas-style restaurant that offers a large menu of small plates and shareable plates, including cold and warm tapas, bocadillos (sandwiches), “Raciones” (larger shareable portions), “A La Plancha” (grilled), and paella. Bravas provides a separate gluten-free menu (upon request) that contains only the dishes the restaurant serves that are gluten-free. This makes it very easy to safely peruse the menu and select your plates!

There are so many plates on Bravas menu that are gluten-free that it doesn’t really feel like you’re sacrificing much as a gluten-free diner. With plenty of grilled seafood and vegetables, small plates with meat and/or potatoes, and the mother of all Spanish dishes, rice-based Paella, to choose from, you won’t leave Bravas hungry.

Chalkboard Restaurant

 Located in the Hotel Les Mars just off the Healdsburg Plaza, Chalkboard Restaurant is a casual and contemporary bistro-style restaurant. The menu offers an assortment of small plates and focuses on using ingredients sourced from local purveyors and farms. Menu highlights include crudos, fresh-from-the-farm salads, handmade pastas, roasted and grilled meats, and seafood. Chalkboard offers a gluten-free pasta substitution for any of the pasta dishes on the menu, and denotes all gluten-free and vegetarian dishes on their menu with icons that make it easy for diners with dietary restrictions.

The Plant Cafe

The Plant Cafe includes notes next to all gluten-free, vegetarian, and paleo items on their menu: (gf), (v), (p). The restaurant offers a good variety of gluten-free dishes, from fish tacos and gourmet salads to burgers and sandwiches with gluten-free bread or bun options, and healthy bowls (including a gluten-free chicken teriyaki bowl – a hard find for gluten-free travelers!).

Plank Coffee

Gluten-free breakfast and bakery items at Plank Coffee include breakfast sandwiches or avocado toast with gluten-free bread substituted, crustless frittata (served with a salad), and a couple of different options for (sweet) gluten-free cake or bars. Sandwiches (for lunch) are available all day.

Willi’s Seafood and Raw Bar

Willi’s Seafood and Raw Bar is another choice for gluten-free travelers, as the restaurant provides a separate gluten-free menu (upon request) that contains only the dishes the restaurant serves that are gluten-free.

Gluten-Free Pizza and Burgers

Pizza Leah

 Leah Scurto of Pizza Leah makes Pizza Leah’s own fresh, gluten-free pizza dough – and it’s awesome! Both soft and springy, and crispy/crunchy (a gluten-free pizza-eater’s dream come true).

Choose from Pizza Leah’s creative and unique pizza combos, such as the “Triple Threat,” with pineapple, pickled peppers, and pepperoni, or the “Po-Tay-to,” topped with fingerling potatoes, bacon, and green onions. You can also go for a classic, such as “The Standard,” which comes with red sauce and Italian sausage, or the “Boomin Granny,” which comes with red sauce, pepperoni, Italian sausage, onions, and olives.

*Gluten-free pizzas at Pizza Leah are available in 20-inch personal-pan size only.

Campo Fina

Campo Fina is an Italian and Mediterranean-inspired restaurant that specializes in woodfired pizzas and offers al fresco dining and an outdoor bocce court. The restaurant offers a gluten-free pizza crust option, which comes out nice and crispy and close in texture to regular pizza crust, thanks to their amazing woodfired oven.

*Campo Fina does not recommend their gluten-free pizzas to those with serious allergies, as there are trace amounts of gluten in the pizza oven.

Gluten-Free Sandwiches

The Dry Creek General Store

 The Dry Creek General Store’s deli makes delicious sandwiches. Even better? They offer a gluten-free bread option to make any sandwich gluten-free. Grab a side salad and a drink and eat at the picnic tables outside or take your provisions to-go for a picnic at a nearby winery. The deli also offers an assortment of olives, cheeses, charcuterie or salami, deli salads (potato salad, chicken salad, etc.), and gluten-free crackers that make grabbing the fixings for a gluten-free picnic easy.

Oakville Grocery

Oakville Grocery is an upscale cafe and market with a gourmet deli counter and outdoor patio seating (no service at tables; guests purchase their food inside). The store offers a gluten-free bread option (Udi’s) for sandwiches and toasts the bread, which is very helpful for taste and consistency! The deli also offers an assortment of salads, cheeses, meats, and side dishes that make it easy to put together a gluten-free picnic. 

Summer’s Market and Deli

 Summer’s Market and Deli is a casual spot that offers sandwiches and other grab-and-go items. The market has an excellent sandwich menu and offers La Brea Bakery’s gluten-free bread on any sandwich. Some of our favorite sandwiches from Summer’s Deli include “The Gino,” a chipotle chicken, bacon, and avocado panini with pepper jack, “The Jeff Reuben,” which consists of pastrami and Swiss on toasted rye with thousand island dressing and sauerkraut, and the “Gluten-Free Kelly,” a ham and smoked gouda panini with tomato, lettuce, onion, mayo, avocado, olive oil and vinegar.

Big John’s Market

The deli at Big John’s Market offers a gluten-free bread option (Canyon Bakery) for sandwiches. And here’s a tip: Make sure to request your bread toasted if you’d prefer it that way, as they only do so if requested. The deli also offers plenty of side dishes and salads that are gluten-free, and there’s both a taqueria and sushi counter in the same area of the store as the deli, which makes it easy for all kinds of eaters to get something they like.

Oliver’s

Oliver’s Market in Windsor carries Mama Mel’s gluten-free bread (baked in Petaluma by Mama Mel’s gluten-free bakery), which is the bread they also use in the deli for gluten-free sandwiches. In our opinion, this is the best gluten-free sandwich bread you’ll find in Sonoma County! The deli normally toasts the bread for all gluten-free sandwiches, but check to make sure, as things get busy and sometimes an employee who doesn’t normally work in the deli might be in the deli that day.

Things get really busy at Oliver’s during lunch hour, so if you are picking up food for a group and want to reduce your wait time, place your deli (or taqueria) order online for pick-up.
 

Sweet Treats

Amy’s Wicked Slush

Offering up chilly, refreshing, creamy, and delicious slush (a cross between something like a Icee and soft serve), Amy’s Wicked Slush is a favorite destination for those seeking a sweet, cold, and refreshing or decadent treat. Choose between slush (in fun flavors like watermelon, black cherry, mango, cotton candy, or tangerine) or creamy soft serve from Straus Family Creamery’s organic dairy (a local Sonoma County dairy) available in a dozen different flavors. Can’t decide? Get the slush-soft serve combo. Amy’s Wicked Slush also serves up one of the richest, most delicious hot chocolates in town. 

Fleur Sauvage Chocolates

There are no more beautiful and artistic chocolates than those crafted by Fleur Sauvage Chocolates at its Windsor chocolaterie. Peruse the selection of artisan, handcrafted, and artistic chocolates and decadent desserts. While Fleur de Sauvage’s chocolates are naturally gluten-free, please ask to confirm which confections are gluten-free, as there are ingredients that might be included that aren’t.

Noble Folk

All of Noble Folk’s ice creams are gluten-free unless they contain additions that aren’t. In-store signage next to each ice cream notes whether it is gluten-free.

The dessert bar also offers a couple of different gluten-free cupcakes called “The Local” and “The Out of Towner,” made with almond flour in a Norwegian almond cake style. Most recently, the flavors were an almond cake cupcake filled with cherry jam and topped with cherry buttercream frosting (this one is so popular, the recipe made it into Bon Appetit magazine!) and an almond cake topped with chocolate frosting.

Last but not least, are Noble Folk’s deliciously delicate and light-as-air French Macarons, which are also 100% gluten-free!

Quail and Condor

While Quail and Condor is a regular glutenous bakery, the shop does always have one or two sweet gluten-free treats on offer. Quail and Condor also serves excellent coffee and espresso beverages!

Written by Brooke Herron