Gluten Free Las Vegas restaurant guide | Real Food with Dana

Update! This post originally went up in November 2017, but I’ve since updated it with restaurants and recommendations from my 2019 Vegas trip!


I am SO excited to be bringing you guys this Gluten Free Las Vegas Restaurant Guide today!! I’ve been to Vegas four times (well, four as an adult, I don’t really count the time I was there with my family when I was 14 and not even allowed to stop for more than 5 seconds on the casino floors) and each time has been different, totally fun, and full of LOTS of great food. 

Luckily, with this gluten-free vegas guide, none of the bad decisions you’ll make in Sin City will have to stay with you like getting glutened (unless you get married in a little chapel, in which case, I can’t help you there…) which can totally be a vacation ruiner. And I want to make sure you can live it up to the fullest without having to worry about whether or not the food you eat is going to make you sick or feel like crap! The hangover…I can’t really help you with.

Bad decisions aside, (just kidding, Mom.) I’ve been to a handful of different restaurants that are not only gluten-free friendly, but insanely delicious, WAY beyond what I expected to find – some even topped the best meals I’ve ever had, gluten-free or not. On my 2017 trip, I mostly stayed on the strip because we didn’t have a car, and for my 2019 trip we stayed off the strip but didn’t have a car either, so we took Ubers everywhere. HIGHLY recommend if you’re staying off the strip that you get a rental car, because we ended up spending so much money on taxis and Ubers! 

Searsucker Las Vegas

Upscale / Modern American, in Caesar’s Palace.

For my first meal on this trip, we ventured to Searsucker in Caesar’s, which has kind of of a retro-Americana theme to it. I was expecting a good meal, but nothing like we had – every single thing we had was hands down, plate-licking amazing, and totally gluten-free. If I went back, I don’t even know what I would order, because every dish was SO mouthwateringly good, the servers were so attentive and nice, and the atmosphere was awesome too. A few of the things we got to try (and absolutely LOVED): short rib with horseradish potatoes (I don’t even normally like short rib. And this was one of the best dishes I had the entire time I was in Vegas!), Scallops over kabocha squash puree, caramelized mushrooms, butternut squash and bacon bits, Salmon with white bean ragout and herbs, roasted carrots with thai pesto and crushed peanuts, and a homemade mango sorbet for dessert.

I don’t normally order scallops anywhere I go, because they’re so small, usually really expensive, and I always leave hungry. Not these – they were by far the biggest scallops I’ve ever seen, and definitely the tastiest!! Hexx also have some amazingly delicious and inventive cocktails, like the Strawberry jalapeno with tequila and lime. Highly, highly recommended Searsucker whether you’re gluten-free or not!

HEXX LAS VEGAS

Upscale / Modern American, in Paris Hotel & Casino

Another one of my favorites from this trip was Hexx Las Vegas, which is in the Paris resort and Casino. Along with Searsucker, I had reached out to the PR department at Hexx to ask if I could come in to review the restaurant for you guys, and they said we could come in to try a sampling of the menu. Hexx prides itself on being any kind of allergy-friendly, and it far exceeded our expectations! The staff was amazing, and the food was beyond delicious. And don’t forget the drinks – we started with one of the Hexx Potions (which comes in a small pitcher, beware!) called the Magick Dragon: with blood orange puree and vodka that SMOKED from liquid nitrogen when you poured the liquid in the glass. So. Cool.

A few of our favorite dishes from the dinner: Seafood On Ice – a raw platter with crab legs, lobster, jumbo shrimp, and three types of ceviche; Pan-seared scallops with smoked onion puree and brown butter carrots, roasted cauliflower with spiced almond aioli, roasted brussels sprouts with orange and balsamic, and finally for dessert: a pumpkin brulée with pumpkin seed brittle and a delicious gluten-free chocolate crust on the bottom. I don’t know what kind of wizardry is going on in that kitchen, but I fully support it, because Hexx was AMAZING.

Beer Park

Outside Paris Hotel & Casino, right above Hexx

Came here our first night for a chill bar night knowing we had a lot of wedding stuff the next day. They not only have great, upscale bar food, but games like giant Jenga, cornhole, foosball, card games, and a bunch of TV’s so this would be a great place to watch a game! I wasn’t too hungry so I split these *amazing* garlic parmesan fries with a few people, but DANG. Insane. Would not want to be meeting anyone new immediately after eating those because your breath smelled like you were trying to fend off some vampries, but WOW. Worth it. Need to try recreating these at home…

LAVO

Italian, in the Venetian

Lavo is more of a romantic date night place, or if you’re just in the mood for some down-home italian cooking (which, who isn’t??) I had a delicious roast chicken dish, but they also offer gluten-free pastas as well.This restaurant converts from a day club (they do a champagne party brunch from 2-6) So I’d recommend making a reservation for 7:30 or after, since they’ll be changing over the restaurant until that time.

Holstein’s Shakes and Buns

Sit-down burger place with some pretty epic options in the Cosmopolitan.

YUM. Holstein’s is an inventive, and super tasty burger place in the cosmo. They sometimes run deals on Foursquare and you can get a free drink or appetizer from the special they were offering – so make sure you check that! I got the beef burger topped with thick sliced smoked bacon and a fried egg, salad on the side. I got mine bunless, but they do have gluten-free burger buns available. Will definitely be back to try more!

Pok Pok Wing

Food stand in the Cosmopolitan ‘Food Court’

Maybe my favorite meal of the whole 2019 weekend trip? The Cosmo has an artisanal-style food court on the second floor by Holstein’s that reminds me of Union Market in DC. I grabbed the Sweet Thai Pork over Coconut Rice with Papaya Salad from Pok Pok Wing and HOLY MOLY YOU GUYS. It was so good I stopped eating it multiple times so I wouldn’t finish it.

There are locations in Portland in Vegas. And I wouldn’t mind making a trip back to either!

In-N-Out Burger

Many locations throughout Vegas. This one was on a street between the Flamingo and Harrah’s Casinos.

I finally did it, you guys. I’ve heard from so many people that I needed to try In-N-Out Burger for SO long and I honestly did not understand the hype at all. But now I GET IT. If you’re g-free like me, here’s how to do it. Lettuce wrap, and animal-style. Emphasis on the animal-style. You get a lettuce-wrapped burger with grilled onions, tomatoes, pickles, and this insane special sauce that is SO tasty and I want to put it on anything and everything in life. Tried the fries and they weren’t anything to write home about. But it was 1am and we were starving from eating a really early and smaller dinner before a show PLUS a few hours of dancing (duh) so I ate them all. And honestly anything dipped in that burger sauce turns into something magical.


Looking for options *off* the strip? I’ve got you covered there too.

SkinnyFATS

a great lunch / fast-casual option. Off the strip (South)

For lunch I stopped by SkinnyFATS, which is a fast-casual type sandwich/bowl/salad place that has lots of allergy-friendly options. They have two sides of the menu: the “healthy” side and “happy” side, which is both hilarious and makes things really easy to choose if you’re gluten-free. Everything is marked as gluten-free, vegetarian, etc., and all the menu items looked totally delicious. I decided on the Naked Chix bowl with mango-basil chicken, rice, and cilantro sauce and got a side of CauliFIRE: roasted cauliflower with buffalo sauce. Both were delicious!

Naked Chix Rice bowl from SkinnyFATS

Le Thai

Fremont Thai Street Food

Holy crap this place was unexpectedly amazing. I love Thai food and go all over DC searching for new places, and this is one of the best I’ve had! Le Thai is really gluten-free friendly; the pad thai is amazing, a little different that what I’ve had before (usually heavy on the peanut sauce) but this one was a little lighter and delicious. My friend said the panang curry was pretty spicy compared to usual for her but she still loved it. The fried rice was also amazing. You HAVE to get the mango sticky rice. Hands down best I’ve ever had. Ever.

Wana Taco

Fremont Street Street Tacos

We randomly stumbled upon this place as we were walking around Fremont street before heading down to the strip for a show. Most food in Vegas (on the strip, at least), is pretty overpriced, just like everything else – so we figured we would grab a quick bite on Fremont before heading down there. Not only was it super cheap (3 tacos for $6), but they were delicious. All on corn tortillas (yes, I checked!), I tried a combo of one of each – the chicken, carne asada, and steak. The pork was a little dry, but the chicken and steak were bomb!

Mr. Mamas

Diner/Breakfast, S Jones Blvd

Mr. Mamas Breakfast & Lunch is a convenient little dinner-type place super close to our AirBnB (that also surprisingly has like 2,500 reviews on Yelp!). It wasn’t anything to rant and rave about like a buffet on the strip, but boy did it hit the spot for brunch – especially because we could get takeout brunch food and walk back to our AirBnB to eat it. I had a Greek omelet with potatoes and sautéed veggies. Which, honestly, would be pretty hard to mess up – but it was great! And they were very accommodating for GF.

Whole Foods

By the airport.

If you’re getting an AirBnB and want to get groceries or snacks for a few days of your trip, there is a WF right by their airport. We headed there on our way out, going back towards the airport, so we could fill up with a solid meal before our flight back to the east coast. You never know what you’re going to find in airports, so I always try and eat a solid meal before I go (and always pack snacks, duh!)


{interlude} Get your sweat on…

Crossfit Max Effort

The second day of my trip I stopped by for a quick workout at Crossfit Max Effort, which was by far the biggest crossfit gym I’ve ever been to. I had a great time dropping in (there were 6 other drop-ins when I was there too!), meeting a bunch of awesome people and coaches, and getting my a** totally kicked. Will definitely be back the next time I’m in town!

Crossfit Mountain’s Edge

Visited a new gym this time to drop in for the Crossfit Open. Mountain’s Edge is really chill place, we had a really small class for a noon on Friday, and the owner was extremely nice! I would definitely go back here. My only other experience at a gym in Vegas until this point was at Crossfit Max Effort, which was MASSIVE and half the (large) class was drop-ins. So this was a nice change of pace to have a smaller, less hectic class!

Average Broz’s Gymnasium

Part of the wedding included a max-out lifting session for all of us who used to lift and compete together at my home gym. So about 10 of us headed to Average Broz’s (yeah, I thought of Dodgeball too), which is an old school weightlifting gym that’s full of character, metals and photos from national/international competition, and platforms lined wall to wall. I loved this place! It’s a bit of a drive if you’re staying anywhere near the strip (or from 10 mins west of the strip, which is where our AirBnB was), but a really cool place to drop in if you’re looking for some powerlifting or olympic lifting.


Up next, because I know this is what you’re really wondering about (especially if you like brunch…)

Buffets…because Vegas = YOLO. (Just kidding. Kind of).

Before we get into the best gluten-free options at Vegas buffets, let’s talk about buffets for a second. Sure, you can go totally off the walls, binge on desserts, and leave feeling like you need to be rolled out of the place. But let’s talk about how to navigate a buffet: the healthy / gluten-free way (because remember, gluten-free doesn’t necessarily mean healthy…a cookie is a cookie!) Stock up on lots of veggies, proteins, and then go for the indulgences. Save room for dessert, because vacation. My #1 tip is to take a lap around the entire place to see what looks good before you start loading up your plate!

A note for planning: the buffets are least expensive during the week, for breakfast and lunch. The weekends are usually much more crowded (expect a wait, we’ve waited up to an hour to be seated before), and are always more expensive.

Las Vegas Gluten Free Restaurant Guide | Real Food with Dana

Wicked Spoon at the Cosmopolitan

You want a gluten-free friendly buffet in Vegas? Go to Wicked Spoon. Every single dish is labeled as gluten-free, vegetarian, or not. The first time I came here, two of us at the table had a gluten allergy, so we told the chef and she took us around the entire buffet telling us what exactly was and wasn’t safe for us to eat. She also made us gluten-free french toast to order. It was fantastic! They even have an entire section of gluten-free desserts and lots of healthier but-still-taste-great options too. Dying, it’s fine. It’s one of the less expensive buffets too – even on the weekend, it’s $36 for brunch (a lot of others are around $50 on weekends).

Came back here a second time with a big group of people (12 of us!) and a bunch of us had gluten *issues*, so it was a great choice for our first real meal in Vegas! PS – if you want GF pancakes or french toast, you can just ask the chefs and they’ll make it for you. So nice!!

Bacchanal Buffet at Caesar’s

They call the Bacchanal something like “the buffet that all Vegas buffets aspire to be” – and for good reason. FANCY AF. This place has basically every kind of (good) food you could expect to see at any buffet in vegas – from upscale breakfast classics like steak and eggs, to chicken and waffles (fried chicken in a waffle cone), an extensive selection of seafood (raw bar and salads), an asian, sushi, italian, and latin american sections, and an extremely decadent selection of desserts. They even have fresh pressed juices if you’re looking to nurse a hangover.

If you have a food allergy/intolerance just tell your server and the chef will take you around telling you exactly what you can and can’t have. So helpful!! I found I had more gluten-free options (like pancakes, pizza, pasta, etc. if you wanted any of those) at the Bellagio buffet (below) but this one was amazing too.

Come with your stretchy pants and a big appetite. Beware: this one gets crowded, especially on the weekends, and I’d recommend coming here and staying for breakfast and lunch – it’s about $50 on weekends.

The Buffet at Bellagio

I’ve been to the Buffet at Bellagio for both brunch and dinner, and loved it both times. Pro tip: Go around 10:30 during the week to get the breakfast price but they’ll be switching over to lunch foods soon. The brunch on the weekends is fantastic too! I love the thanksgiving-type foods they have here like mashed yams and red cabbage. The prime rib is on point, and I love the seafood. Oh and there are gluten-free desserts too!! But here’s the absolute kicker…

If you’re celiac/gluten-free and going to Vegas, you MUST go to this buffet. Inform your server, and the chef will come to your table and show you around every single station and dish, telling you what is safe and isn’t safe for you to eat. And then they’ll tell you that basically anything can be made special ordered for you (gluten free): pizza, pasta, french toast, pancakes, etc. Umm HELLO what?!! It was amazing.

Other highlights were the “healthy” salad bar in the middle that had dried fruit and pre-made salads that were asian and mediterranean-inspired, grilled salmon, flank steak (SO GOOD), spaghetti squash, glazed carrots, and chicken.

Buffet at the Wynn

Wynn has a HUGE variety for brunch, and it’s one of my favorites for sure, with lots of gluten-free options. I love the layout of the place – the decorations are SO cool. Come hungry, and if you go on the weekend, be prepared to wait for a while. The line moves fast though.

Highlights: thick smoked bacon with honey mustard, prime rib (best I tried in all my meals here), seared salmon, grilled pineapple with rum and coconut milk. Also has the standard shrimp, smoked salmon, eggs, and tons of breakfast things – make your own pancakes and omelets, as well as sushi and a bunch of other random delicious things.

Desserts are a world (and room) of their own! You can order your own ice cream sandwich with their gelato and any of their homemade cookies. For dairy free peeps, strawberry and mango sorbet are great. They also had a gluten and dairy free coconut tropical tapioca pudding, which was great!

107 SkyLounge – for Cocktails

Skylounge is located on top of the Las Vegas Stratosphere, so it obviously has drop-dead-gorgeous views, even at night. You feel like you’re on top of the world! When you come into the Stratosphere building, just tell the people you want to go up to the 107 lounge so you don’t have to pay for a ticket up.  Drinks are about $15 for a cocktail – better to go at happy hour. But the view is free and totally worth it!

ALL GLUTEN FREE LAS VEGAS RESTAURANTS

Unless specified as having an entirely GF menu, all these restaurants have great gluten-free options; always make sure to inform your server of any allergies.

DINNER

Searsucker Las Vegas
Hexx Las Vegas
LAVO
Mon Ami Gabi (offers an entirely gluten-free menu)

Less Expensive Options / Lunch:

SkinnyFats
Holstein’s Shakes and Buns
Le Thai (Fremont Street)
China Poblano
El Segundo Sol Taqueria and Margarita Bar (gluten free menu available)
Rachel’s Kitchen (multiple locations)
Krayvings
Greens & Proteins (multiple locations)

Brunch / Buffets with great gluten-free options:

Wicked Spoon at the Cosmopolitan (gluten-free markings on all dishes)
Bacchanal Buffet at Caesar’s
The Buffet at Bellagio
the Buffet at the Wynn

Go for the Cocktails / Happy Hour:

Searsucker Las Vegas
Hexx Las Vegas
Beer Park
107 Skylounge
Chandelier Bar

Gym time: Crossfit Max Effort – Central

Note: I did NOT go to all these restaurants in one trip. Holy cow, I would’ve been stuffed! I received a compensated meal at Searsucker and Hexx after reaching out to their PR department about writing a review for them, but I did not receive compensation from any restaurant for this post. All thoughts and opinions are my own…obviously *snape voice*.

Have you guys ever been to Vegas before? Let me know your favorite gluten free Las Vegas finds! And a huge THANK YOU to everyone who recommended these places to me – let me know what I missed!

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4 Comments

  1. I haven’t been to Vegas, but will be passing there soon so this was helpful. Thanks! It doesn’t have to be gluten free (though that would be awesome), but do you know of places in America (I would be more specific, but I’ll be visiting quite a few places) who make traditional homemade pie with real butter and no weirdo ingredients? Banana cream pie is on my bucket list haha

    1. Thank you! I know of a few bakeries in Jersey where my parents are from that might have what you’re looking for. If you’re passing through there, look up the Allwood bakery!

  2. I have several. (Celiac) I ate at Eggslut in the cosmopolitan more times in one trip then I would like to admit, but safety of cross contamination is very dependent on what manager you get. We were the Beauty and essex and they had a lot of great options as well as the Jose Andres restaurant China Poblano also in the cosmopolitan. We did the Wynn buffet as well and was totally worth it. I think I befriended the pancake maker man by the end of the meal aha. For a treat, milk bar has gluten free ice cream options and the Juice standard had a variety of juice options for a healthier pick me up after a night of drinking.

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