The Best Gluten-Free Restaurants on the Upper West Side

By Gus Saltonstall

A doctor told me I had Celiac Disease when I was 17 years old. Since then, I have never purposely consumed gluten outside of a few beers handed to me during freshman year of college when I couldn’t find the following words.

“No thanks, I’m actually allergic to gluten.”

I got past that insecurity.

The Celiac diagnosis means a 100 percent commitment to eating gluten-free. That diet has become second nature in the 13 years since. As I like to tell people, if you had to do it, you would too. I struggle to even remember a time when I shoveled gluten into my body.

For those who are unfamiliar, gluten is a group of proteins found in wheat, barley, oats, and rye that act like glue in dough. Gluten gives different foods their chewiness and helps hold everything together. The most common gluten-filled foods are breads, pastries, pastas, and grains, but you can also find gluten in soy sauce or wheat-based glucose syrup that most chewy candies deploy.

If I eat gluten, my throat doesn’t close up, but my stomach immediately starts going through a variety of not-so-fun symptoms. If I were to continue eating gluten, it would greatly increase my risk of much more serious health developments.

All to say, I’ve become very acquainted with the gluten-free dining options and restaurants on the Upper West Side.

For this list, I’m focusing not on food or cuisine that is naturally gluten-free, but instead on those Upper West Side restaurants and eateries that provide gluten-free options for dishes that are typically jam-packed with it.

Here are the ones I consider the very best in the neighborhood.

Modern Bread & Bagel: 472 Columbus Avenue (between West 82nd and 83rd streets)

I almost became emotional the first time I tried Modern Bread & Bagel. It was years after I had eliminated gluten from my diet. I was sitting alone at my mom’s brown, wooden dining room table on West 93rd Street.

I had stumbled upon Modern Bread & Bagel while scrolling through GrubHub and decided to give it a try. I was in a state of disbelief as I unraveled the packaging for the toasted everything bagel with scallion cream cheese, lox, and pickled onions.

The bagel was so full. Crispy on the outside but still doughy and chewy in the middle bites. It held together despite the layering of delicious toppers. It was so unlike the standard gluten-free bagels that either crumble in your hands or come out as thin as hockey pucks.

I called the restaurant halfway through thinking there must have been a mistake. This must be a bagel full of delicious gluten. The woman on the other end of the phone reassured me that not only was the bagel gluten-free, but that every item on Modern Bread & Bagel’s menu was gluten-free.

As an Upper West Side native and someone who had bagels as a central role in my eating habits growing up, finding a phenomenal gluten-free bagel meant a whole lot. Modern Bread & Bagel is the very best at it.

Cafe Eighty Two: 2282 Broadway (between West 82nd and 83rd streets)

A diner might seem like an unexpected inclusion on this list, but Cafe Eighty Two’s gluten-free operation is special.

The longtime Upper West Side establishment has its own separate gluten-free menu, but in diner fashion, you need to know to ask for it. The menu has gluten-free pancakes, gluten-free French toast, gluten-free French onion soup, gluten-free mozzarella sticks, and a host of other gluten-free items that are generally tough to find.

It’s good for breakfast, lunch, or dinner and allows gluten-free eaters on the Upper West Side the chance for a legitimate New York City diner experience, as opposed to the customary eggs and bacon without the toast.

Friedmans: 50 West 72nd Street and 35 West End Avenue

Friedmans rightfully gets a lot of attention for its gluten-free offerings within the community.

The vast majority of its menu items are gluten-free or can be prepared gluten-free, and that commitment comes from one of the Friedman family members having Celiac Disease.

Friedmans has some of the best gluten-free sandwich bread around, but also offers harder-to-find items like gluten-free banana bread, gluten-free vegetable potstickers, gluten-free mac and cheese, and gluten-free chicken fingers and chicken schnitzel.

As those with gluten-free diets know that locating items served with gluten-free breadcrumbs is a particularly challenging find, which makes it a particularly special success when you come across it.

You can’t go wrong across Friedmans’ menu.

Bareburger: 2233 Broadway and 795 Columbus Avenue

It is fast casual, but on the topic of breaded gluten-free food options, Bareburger is great.

Bareburger offers chicken fingers, popcorn chicken, fried pickles, and fried chicken sandwiches that are all gluten-free. It also has gluten-free buns for those looking for a burger or sandwich.

Fred’s: 476 Amsterdam Avenue (between West 82nd and 83rd streets)

The longtime, popular Upper West Side bar and restaurant serves up some really good gluten-free food.

There are two stars of the show, though.

The first is Fred’s gluten-free mac and cheese, which you can add an assortment of accoutrements to, including ham, chorizo, jalapeños, and more. The second is the bar’s gluten-free cheesecake. It’s decadent and rich in all the right ways.

Combining the two-for-one meal is heavenly. You just have to prepare to be moving slower for the next 24 hours.

Pappardella: 316 Columbus Avenue (between West 74th and 75th streets)

I’ll end this list of gluten-free standouts with the Italian restaurant Pappardella.

In competition with the everything bagel from Modern Bread, the chicken parmesan with pasta marinara is possibly the best gluten-free dish on the Upper West Side.

Pappardella has a standalone gluten-free menu with cheesy garlic bread, meatballs, fried burrata, pizzas, pastas, breaded veal parmigiana, and much more. It provides those with gluten-free diets a complete Italian dining experience, which is close to impossible to find.

While many restaurants have gluten-free pasta options, Pappardella makes their gluten-free pasta not as an afterthought, but as if it has equal standing with the rest of the menu. The gluten-free pasta comes out cooked properly, and so unlike the mushy offerings that you find at other eateries.

It then goes above and beyond by having gluten-free meatballs that typically include flour, and the phenomenal, lightly breaded chicken and veal gluten-free parms.

And to be clear, each of these restaurants, besides Modern Bread & Bagel, offers plenty of gluten-filled dishes.

Please let us know in the comments if there are other Upper West Side gluten-free restaurants you would add to this list.

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