Unearth The Voyage
Eating gluten-free in Ohio used to mean settling for a sad side salad while everyone else enjoyed the good stuff. Not anymore.
Across the state, kitchens are proving that food made without gluten can still be rich, comforting, and downright crave-worthy. Here are 8 Ohio spots where dietary needs get treated like a chance to cook something delicious, not a burden.
1. Choripan Argentine Grill – Dublin
Choripan Argentine Grill in Dublin is one of Ohio’s most compelling destinations for diners who want gluten-free food without settling for a stripped-down menu. The restaurant specializes in Argentine comfort food and states that its food is free from gluten, grains, nuts, sugar, seed oils, and soy.
That unusually broad approach makes Choripan stand apart from restaurants where gluten-free diners have to carefully navigate a menu or request multiple substitutions.
Empanadas are one of the restaurant’s biggest attractions, bringing the flavors and satisfying textures associated with Argentine cooking into a gluten-free format. The restaurant currently describes them as the “best empanadas in town,” while its broader menu revolves around hearty Argentine-inspired food.
Choripan is currently operating at 5927 Karric Square Drive in Dublin, although the restaurant notes that it is running a limited menu because of staffing. For gluten-free diners craving something more memorable than another salad or modified entrée, Choripan is an especially interesting Ohio stop.
2. Portia’s Cafe – Columbus
Portia’s Cafe brings together gluten-free and vegan dining in Columbus with an emphasis on fresh, carefully selected ingredients. Rather than simply marking a handful of dishes with a GF symbol, the restaurant says it chooses ingredients that are naturally gluten-free.
Its entire philosophy also extends beyond gluten: the food is vegan, while the restaurant prioritizes organic or chemical-free ingredients, non-GMO sourcing, local products when possible, and filtered water.
That makes Portia’s particularly appealing for groups dealing with several dietary preferences at once. A gluten-free diner isn’t relegated to one or two backup choices while everyone else explores the menu.
Instead, gluten-free cooking is built into the restaurant’s identity. The focus is plant-based food, so diners should expect a very different experience from meat-centered restaurants such as Choripan.
Portia’s is especially worth considering for people looking for a casual Columbus meal where vegan and gluten-free requirements can comfortably overlap. It’s a good example of how specialized dining can still feel like a complete restaurant experience rather than a collection of substitutions.
3. BIBIBOP Asian Grill – Multiple locations
BIBIBOP Asian Grill may be a chain, but it earns a place on this list for one particularly important reason: gluten-free dining isn’t limited to a few carefully selected dishes. BIBIBOP states that its entire menu is 100% gluten-free and that food is prepared in dedicated gluten-free kitchens.
Its Dayton location, for example, is also identified as a certified Gluten-Free Safe Space.
The concept centers on Korean-inspired bowls that diners can customize with proteins, vegetables, bases, toppings, and sauces. Options include proteins such as chicken, Korean BBQ beef, steak, and tofu, making it possible to build anything from a vegetable-heavy lunch to a higher-protein meal.
Vegetarian and vegan combinations are available as well.
Most importantly, gluten-free customers don’t have to scan past tempting menu items they can’t order. With Ohio locations including Cleveland and Dayton, among others, BIBIBOP is also one of the more accessible choices on this list.
It’s fast-casual gluten-free dining designed to make ordering straightforward.
4. Fully Gluten Free Bakehouse & Market – Delaware
Fully Gluten Free Bakehouse & Market in Delaware is the kind of destination that can turn grocery shopping into a road trip for gluten-free customers. Located at 256 S.
Sandusky Street, just outside Columbus, the business says it attracts customers not only from across Ohio but also from neighboring states including Indiana, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, and Illinois.
This isn’t simply a conventional bakery that happens to keep a few gluten-free pastries behind the counter. The gluten-free focus defines the business, making it particularly useful for shoppers who want to explore without constantly checking whether an appealing item contains wheat.
Fresh production is also an important part of the experience; the business says it tries to produce as much fresh food as possible each day and recommends calling ahead when customers are traveling for a particular product.
For 2026, the market lists regular hours from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday.
Its combination of bakery and market makes this a particularly useful stop for stocking up rather than simply grabbing one dessert.
5. Bake Me Happy – Columbus/Dublin
Bake Me Happy takes familiar snack cakes and bakery-case favorites and recreates them for a gluten-free audience. The Columbus bakery’s current lineup highlights treats such as zebra snack cakes, oatmeal creme clouds, King Dong snack cakes, brownies, scones, mini Bundt cakes, carrot cake loaves, cookies, and other sweets.
It’s exactly the sort of selection that can make someone forget they’re shopping at a specialty gluten-free bakery.
There are currently two locations. The South Side Columbus shop at 500 E.
Whittier Street offers gluten-free baked goods alongside groceries, freezer items, and espresso drinks. Its Bridge Park location in Dublin carries the bakery’s gluten-free treats, plus drip coffee, cold brew, and a smaller freezer selection.
That variety is a big part of Bake Me Happy’s appeal. Instead of concentrating solely on special-order cakes or traditional bakery staples, it embraces fun, nostalgic treats that people might have assumed were off-limits after going gluten-free.
For a sweet stop during an Ohio road trip, this is one of the list’s most playful choices.
6. Gluten Free Biscuits by Daddy-O – Columbus
Gluten Free Biscuits by Daddy-O tackles one food that can be particularly difficult to reproduce without wheat: a satisfying biscuit. The company operates its Columbus GF Biscuit Cafe at 821 E.
Long Street, where its current schedule lists takeout service Tuesday through Sunday.
The gluten-free commitment extends beyond the café itself. Daddy-O also produces gluten-free biscuit mixes, and the company states that those mixes are prepared and packaged in a dedicated gluten-free space.
Ingredients include white and brown rice flour, tapioca flour, potato starch, cornstarch, and other components used to achieve the structure and texture expected from a biscuit. The company says its ingredients are certified gluten-free except for the sea salt, which is naturally gluten-free.
The café is an especially useful addition to this list because it moves beyond cupcakes and cookies. For diners who miss warm, savory, bread-like comfort food after giving up gluten, a business built around gluten-free biscuits offers something genuinely different from the typical specialty bakery.
7. Purely Sweet Bakery – Beavercreek
Purely Sweet Bakery in Beavercreek makes its gluten-free status refreshingly clear: the bakery says everything it makes is 100% gluten-free and produced in a dedicated gluten-free kitchen. It also offers vegan, paleo, and keto selections, giving customers with different dietary preferences considerably more variety than the name might initially suggest.
The selection goes well beyond celebration cakes. Current offerings include sourdough loaves, chocolate chip and double-chocolate cookies, flourless peanut butter cookies, brownies, salted caramel chocolate chip cookie bars, granola, energy bars, and several keto treats.
Custom cakes and cupcakes can also be ordered for birthdays, weddings, anniversaries, and other celebrations.
Purely Sweet operates at 3375 Dayton-Xenia Road in a shared retail space with Coffee Hub Beavercreek, which also sells the bakery’s products. One important distinction for allergy-conscious visitors is that, despite the dedicated gluten-free kitchen, the business says its facility processes peanuts, tree nuts, and dairy and advises customers with additional allergies or sensitivities to use appropriate judgment.
8. Happy Goat Gluten-Free Bakery – Lancaster
Happy Goat Gluten-Free Bakery in Lancaster has one of the most personal origins on this list. The owner says she had been baking from a young age and eventually pursued a career as a pastry chef.
After being diagnosed with celiac disease in 2011, she began experimenting with ways to transform favorite desserts into gluten-free versions. That work eventually led to the opening of Happy Goat in Lancaster in 2015.
Today, Happy Goat describes itself as operating a dedicated gluten-free kitchen at 502 N. High Street.
Its offerings stretch from celebration cakes and cupcakes to cookies, brownies and breakfast treats, with dairy-free, vegan and sugar-free options available in parts of the range.
Breakfast is particularly tempting. The bakery lists cake donuts, muffins, cinnamon rolls, banana bread, pumpkin bread and its “Goat Tarts,” although some products are offered on rotating schedules or require advance special orders.
For gluten-free customers who miss the experience of walking into a neighborhood bakery and finding indulgent choices, Happy Goat is an Ohio destination worth knowing.
