Los Angeles, California Gluten-Free

🎶 I hopped of the plane at LAX 🎶... and entered gluten-free HEAVEN! 

When I first discovered how many places offered gluten-free options in LA, I was a little skeptical as I was unsure if they were all just for the "trendy" gluten free people, or if they were truly celiac-friendly. To much surprise, I cannot say enough good things about every single place I went to! Over the course of the five days I was there, I totally ate my way through the city and did not get sick even once! 

For dedicated GF bakeries, the first stop we went to was Rising Hearts Bakery in Culver City. When you first walk in, there is a glass display case with all sorts of cookies, brownies, and other goodies. From there, I purchased a chocolate chip cookie whoopie pie which was out of this world! But as we were looking around, we noticed a whole rack of freshly baked bagels that had just came out of the oven. Now these were the absolute highlight of this stop. I had not had such soft, fresh bagels in years, since before my celiac diagnosis!

Up next for gluten-free bakeries was Erin McKenna's. I was so desperate to try their delicious donuts that I had heard so much about, but we weren't super close by so I ended up having them delivered to my hotel via Postmates. I ordered 4 donuts, all of which were gluten-free AND vegan too! Plus, they were so delicious! The definite highlights had to be the Mocha Crunch and the Samoa donuts. 

As far as meals are concerned, my favorite lunch spot that I discovered downtown was Asian Box. I like to think of Asian Box as fast-casual Asian takeout, but with a Chipotle-esque setup and a healthy spin. Plus, the entire menu is 100% GF! Despite being totally overwhelemed with all my options, I decided on the Chef's Salad - Asian Salad, Rice Noodles, Crispy Shallots, Peanuts, Herbs, Soy Vinaigrette- with the Soy Garlic Beef as my protein. For a place that was so quick and convenient, I could not believe how delicious this meal tasted! If I were to ever live in LA, Asian Box would certainly be a go-to lunch spot for me. Another delicious lunch that I has was from Mendocino Farms. I had a delicious sandwich, served on their awesome GF bread. I ordered the Chicken MBT, which consisted of shaved, roasted free range chicken breast, fresh mozzarella, house marinated red peppers, basil pesto, tomatoes, balsamic vinegar, & greens. Though Mendocino Farms' menu has a large selection of sandwiches, if I has to do it all over, I would get the Chicken MBT again any day.

I could go on and on about all of the other places I went to but I will just leave you with a few other honorable mentions - Cafe Gratitude, Coolhaus, & Baldoria. Though I certainly ate well on this trip, I still had a long list of places that I was unable to get to. Stay tuned for another round of LA reviews on the future, hopefully sooner rather than later!