Fast Food Restaurants With The Best Gluten-Free Options

Whether you've been diagnosed with a medical condition that requires you to give up gluten or you're trying to cut back on your gluten consumption for any other reason, you've likely noticed one big issue: It can be very difficult dining out as someone with a gluten intolerance or allergy. While local, sit-down restaurants can be a little more flexible and willing to make changes to their menu items to accommodate diners' needs, big chains are often more rigid and stick to their corporate-handed methods. As such, you may sometimes feel as if you're stuck eating at home most of the time, or you're resigned to eating the most bare-bones menu options available (hello, sad side salad of mere lettuce, carrot shards, and one cherry tomato).

The good news? More fast-food restaurants are catching on that diners do want to still eat their favorite foods, but they need some changes. Chains are rolling out gluten-free buns and pizza crusts. Meanwhile, some chains offer naturally gluten-free eats that you may not even be familiar with. Of course, do keep in mind that most chains still aren't perfect in avoiding cross-contamination, so proceed with caution — but if you're ready to see what gluten-free options are available at your favorite fast-food chains, here's where to start.

Jersey Mike's is a favorite for its mammoth cold and hot subs, and for those who crave a gluten-free sandwich, the chain definitely delivers. While you can get any sub option served as a wrap or a bowl, removing the bread and making the sub gluten-free, you can also opt for a gluten-free sub roll. Jersey Mike's sources its gluten-free sub rolls from Udi's and the rolls are surprisingly a pretty good quality for gluten-free bread. If you have much experience with gluten-free bread of any kind, you know it can often fall apart under too much weight or moisture, but that's rarely a problem with Jersey Mike's gluten-free subs.

Additionally, when you order a gluten-free sub in-person at Jersey Mike's, the employees will typically ask you if you're ordering the gluten-free sub due to preference or an allergy. If you answer the latter, the team will go out of their way to avoid cross-contamination, by using separate gloves to prepare the sub (versus gloves that have touched regular bread) and preparing the sub separately, off the main sandwich prep line. They also often use separate utensils to prep the gluten-free sub.

Five Guys' limited menu makes it easy to avoid gluten. All you need to do is skip the bun and avoid a few milkshake mix-ins, including the cherry, malted milk, and Oreo cookie pieces mix-ins. Otherwise, just don't drip malt vinegar all over your fries and you're good to go. The chain's burger patties and all burger toppings are gluten-free, as are the plain milkshakes and french fries.

Five Guys is also pretty good about helping you avoid cross-contamination worries where possible. If you order a burger without a bun (you can choose to get it in a lettuce wrap or just stacked like a normal burger, in a tray, sans bun), the team will ask you if your order is due to preference or allergy, much like Jersey Mike's. If you say the latter, they'll clean the grill and prep station before making your order, as well as change out their gloves. Plus, unlike as is the case in some restaurants where gluten-free items are fried in the same fryers as regular items, that's not the case at Five Guys. The gluten-free fries are cooked in their own, exclusive fryer.

It's worth acknowledging that some cross-contamination has occurred at Five Guys when ordering mayo and similar condiments on your burger, per some users on Reddit. One user notes that the shared utensils used on both gluten-free and regular burgers can cause cross-contamination that can be unfortunate for those with extreme gluten sensitivities, such as celiac disease.

For many gluten-free diners, In-N-Out Burger is a staple. Out of the entire menu, the only item that's listed as containing gluten are the buns. If you order your burger protein-style, so wrapped in lettuce rather than on a bun, you should be able to avoid any of that pesky gluten, just about any way you like to top your burger — and go ahead and order some fries, too, as they're gluten-free as well, and not fried in the same oil as any other gluten-containing menu items.

Redditors who praise the chain as a safe spot to eat for those with celiac disease do offer a few tips to avoid cross-contamination with other orders, though. Simply tell the team, when ordering, that you have a gluten allergy, and they may make your food in a separate prep station, as well as change their gloves. Additionally, you can order your meal separately from other individuals in your party, which ensures that your food doesn't end up on the same tray as one of the offending buns. The one topping that you may want to avoid, if you're being extra careful? The grilled onions, as they're grilled on the same flattop as the buns.

Yes, you can definitely still get your Chipotle fix even while living the gluten-free lifestyle. You just need to primarily avoid menu items that utilize the chain's flour tortillas, such as the burritos and tacos. Instead, opt for bowl-based meals, like a burrito bowl or salad. Literally, the only gluten-containing items on Chipotle's relatively (compared to most other chains) small, in-person menu are the flour tortillas. You can enjoy all the veggies, meats, beans, rice, sauces, and salsas your heart desires, without worrying about gluten.

Of course, since Chipotle's makes its orders in a prep line, much like Jersey Mike's, there is room for cross-contamination. However, to somewhat alleviate worries, Chipotle does specify that if you have a high gluten sensitivity, you can and should request that the workers change out their gloves for fresh ones, before preparing your order. Additionally, Chipotle warns that corn-containing items like tortilla chips and corn salsa could contain traces of gluten due to the manufacturing process.

As far as major fast-food chains that specialize in chicken go, Chick-fil-A blows all the rest out of the water, and it's not even doing all that much. Chick-fil-A offers a gluten-free bun and, in order to avoid cross-contamination, the bun comes individually wrapped. It stays in that wrapper until it gets to the customer. Then, the customer can assemble their own sandwich in a safer environment, away from all the normal buns in the Chick-fil-A kitchen. This gluten-free bun is fine — it's your average GF bun that you might pick up at the grocery store, so a little on the dry and crumbly side, but the effort is appreciated.

Beyond this, though, there's also a range of menu items that are naturally gluten-free (though the chain does not promise there's no risk of cross-contamination with these items). You can easily have a full gluten-free meal at Chick-fil-A, breakfast, lunch, or dinner. For breakfast, go with the hash brown scramble bowl with either the grilled filet or sausage. For lunch or dinner, you can do grilled nuggets or a grilled filet sandwich, so long as you get the gluten-free bun or no bun. Pick a side of waffle fries, a side salad, fruit cup, or berry parfait. The cobb salad and spicy southwest salad are also gluten-free, if you get them with the grilled nuggets or filet. A large number of Chick-fil-A's dipping sauces and dressings are likewise gluten-free, including the favorited Chick-fil-A and Polynesian sauces.

As far as burger fast-food restaurants where you can actually get a gluten-free bun versus leaving your burger naked go, Shake Shack is one of the very few. The chain's gluten-free buns are pretty good, too (though nowhere near as good as the fluffy, regular buns). If, though, you don't fancy a gluten-free bun, you can order both the chain's burgers and hot dogs in a lettuce wrap.

That said, unlike as is the case at Five Guys, where you can order a lettuce-wrapped burger with whatever toppings your heart desires, alongside fries that you can be assured are free from cross-contamination, that's not how it'll go at Shake Shack. While the chain's fries are technically gluten-free, they are fried in the same fryers that fry the gluten-heavy Shroom burgers and chicken patties (so if you thought you could order a mushroom-based burger or a veggie burger, think again; they both contain gluten at Shake Shack). Additionally, you may want to avoid ordering your sandwich with ShackSauce, ranch, barbecue sauce, or breakfast sauce, as these are all processed in a factory where cross-contact is possible. The crispy onion topping contains gluten, as well.

Gluten-free pizza is, like gluten-free bread, another one of those foods that can really differ in quality from restaurant to restaurant. Luckily, Pizza Hut has paired up with Udi's to offer gluten-free crusts that basically allow you to have whatever pizza you want at Pizza Hut. When you order a gluten-free pizza from the chain, you'll be able to pick from a few standard pizza varieties, like supreme, veggie lover's, or meat lover's, but then there's also a build-your-own gluten-free pizza option. If you go this route, the chain notes that most of its pizza toppings are naturally gluten-free, except for its meatballs and creamy garlic parmesan sauce.

As for risks of cross-contamination, Pizza Hut does use a dedicated gluten-free pizza cutter and dedicated gluten-free pizza boxes, so that cuts down on some risk. However, the chain also clarifies that the overall restaurant kitchens are not gluten-free environments.

Like Jersey Mike's, Subway is a sub chain with some gluten-free options, but while they're quite good, Subway doesn't take the same care with attempting to avoid cross-contamination as Jersey Mike's. For example, while Subway does offer a 6-inch, gluten-free sub roll, it's not available at all locations and it's prepared on the same equipment as all the other sandwiches.

Because of this, you may not necessarily want to order a Subway gluten-free sub; luckily, there are other gluten-free menu items that are equally, if not more, tasty. For example, you can order a protein bowl or salad, both of which you can customize to meet your preferences and needs. You'll just have to avoid Subway's gluten-containing meat products and condiments, which include the grilled chicken in sweet onion teriyaki sauce, the meatballs in marinara sauce, and the sweet onion teriyaki sauce on its own. Otherwise, all of Subway's other vegetables, meats, cheeses, condiments, and seasonings are considered gluten-free. Plus, if you order one of these options, which come in a plastic bowl, you won't need to worry about the sandwich artist slapping your piece of gluten-free bread down on the same sandwich station that's seen dozens of regular subs already that day.

Wendy's doesn't offer any gluten-free bread options (though there are some rumors of the chain testing a gluten-free bun in some locations), but there are many items on Wendy's menu that are technically gluten-free anyway. You can order a baked potato with any of the available toppings, such as sour cream and chives, or cheddar sauce and bacon. The all-mighty Frosty is gluten-free, as is the taco salad. You can have the chili, so long as you don't eat the crackers, and some of the salads can be modified to be gluten-free as well, if you remove the fried chicken, any other fried items, and croutons. The french fries and grilled chicken are likewise gluten-free, even though they are prepared on the same equipment that prepares items on the menu that contain gluten. Similarly, you can order a burger without the bun, though the burgers and buns may be heated on the same grill.

Because of all of these options, Wendy's makes the list of fast-food restaurants where you can find a good array of gluten-free meals. At the same time, though, if you have celiac disease or if you're particularly concerned about cross-contamination, Wendy's is one of the riskier options on this list. Unlike some of the other fast-food chains that will go out of their way to be accommodating, Wendy's is less so. Many of the same prep stations, gloves, utensils, and packaging touch both gluten-free and gluten-containing ingredients.

Like Pizza Hut, Domino's has jumped on the gluten-free pizza crust train and now offers a small gluten-free pizza crust that can be customized with your toppings of choice. However, Domino's does note that while its gluten-free pizza is prepared in a gluten-free facility, it's simply not possible to guarantee that the pizza isn't exposed to gluten while in the restaurant. In fact, Domino's goes out of its way to recommend that those with celiac disease do not eat its pizza.

While some gluten-free consumers have had no problem eating Domino's gluten-free pizzas (including yours truly), others have had severe reactions to the pizza, so your mileage may vary. According to Reddit users on a gluten-free thread, Pizza Hut is very much the superior option when it comes to fast-food gluten-free pizza. Cross-contamination occurs at Domino's at myriad points in the preparation process, with employees using the same cooking surfaces, pizza cutters, other utensils, and gloves to prep both regular and gluten-free pizzas. All that said, while Domino's gluten-free pizza is delicious and may be perfectly fine for some, it's not going to be a good fit for everyone.

Like Wendy's, Taco Bell doesn't advertise any of its menu items as gluten-free, and the chain is careful to point out that all items are prepared in a common space, so cross-contamination is possible. The chain also, like Domino's, advises those with celiac disease to avoid the restaurant entirely.

If, though, you're not worried about cross-contamination, you can eat Taco Bell's menu items that are technically gluten-free by nature. The main thing you want to avoid is the soft tortillas. Otherwise, Taco Bell's crunchy tacos don't contain any gluten. Neither do the nachos. For sides, you can eat the black beans, refried beans, or rice. Many of the sauces are gluten-free as well, including the mild and hot sauces, and specialty sauces like the avocado ranch dressing. Maybe keep in mind that some mention an intolerance to the ground beef used in Taco Bell tacos, because, while the ground beef is technically gluten-free, the beef mixture actually contains oats as a filler, and oats are an often cross-contaminated ingredient.

Diagnosed with IBS-D in 2018, I quickly discovered that one of my big trigger foods was gluten. While I can eat gluten in small amounts, eating large amounts of gluten or multiple servings of gluten-containing foods over a short period of time can spell out a very unhappy following few days. This was an unfortunate discovery for a foodie and someone who loves dining out, from fine-dining restaurants in large cities to major fast-food chains. Additionally, as a frequent traveler, I'd come to rely on many major chains for quick and cheap eats, particularly when traveling through more remote areas.

I quickly learned to scour the menus of every chain I came across, hoping to find something that my gluten-intolerant body would accept — and happily found options at the above chains. The above recommendations are thus made based on my personal history and experiences finding either (relatively) robust options or at least options that taste great, even if they're few.

Do note that, since I have a gluten intolerance rather than a more serious condition such as celiac disease, I have not had to cut out chains that may put diners at risk of cross-contamination. As such, those chains where cross-contamination is a risk have been identified, so you can make the best decisions for your health.