Celiac and Gluten Free in Oahu, Hawaii
Our family spent a wonderful week on Oahu in Hawaii (March 2022). My husband and I have been to Maui and The Big Island before, but this was our first time on Oahu. I had such a hard time finding gluten free options listed online so I wanted to write this blog for those with Celiac wanting to travel to Oahu and unsure where to eat. We stayed in Ko’Olina on the west side at Aulani, A Disney Resort & Spa. We requested the Chef from Aulani call us before we flew out and he reassured us they are able to accommodate us. We also had our 10-year vow renewal at the Four Seasons Resort Oahu and had a wonderful meeting ahead of our trip with their head Chef who created an incredibly special meal for our family and accommodated our celiac disease and all of our food allergies beautifully. The cake that the Four Seasons made us was quite honestly the best cake we had ever had and it was gluten, dairy, egg and vanilla free. We couldn’t get enough of it! During our stay on Oahu, we visited the North Shore, Diamond Head/Waikiki area, Kualoa Ranch and Kailua area on the east side, as well. This post is written from our personal experiences this past week and are our opinions only. Everyone will have different wait staff/cooks and different reactions to food served, so please still do the research to make sure any of these locations we mention are right for you. For a little context, our family typically cooks at home back in Texas and we rarely go out to eat unless we are on vacation to control what is in our food for multiple reasons. We consider ourselves a very strict Celiac family, fully understanding cross-contamination and all the places it tends to hide.
When we checked into Aulani my husband immediately went to a few grocery stores, Costco and Target. We prefer to eat organic, gluten free food and I have to be dairy and egg free so many items we purchase are vegan friendly. He spent $900 on groceries for 6 days for our Villa, which included breakfast items, pizzas, pasta, snacks, chicken to cook in the oven and all the condiments we like to use. We knew we were going to be doing a lot of hikes and had to pack picnics for certain adventures. He tried to go to Costco but they had a long line out of the door that wasn’t moving. He went into Safeway and Foodland, but they were pretty limited on selections. He went over to Target and grabbed some paper towels, napkins, etc., and ended up coming across a place that sold almost all of our normal brands we find at Sprouts here in Texas. It was called Down to Earth, Organic and Natural. https://www.downtoearth.org/our-stores/kapolei-oahu. If you just need a few items we found some fresh produce, as well as, gf + vegan safe brands at Island Country Markets literally walking distance across from the entrance of Aulani. https://islandcountrymarkets.com/koolina/. That location is great for snorkeling and beach gear and they have lei’s (since Aulani is not giving them to you when you arrive) and of course, wine!
Food allergies/sensitivities in addition to Celiac in our family…
Mom: diagnosed Celiac at age 30 by endoscopy, milk anaphylactic allergy, shellfish anaphylactic allergy, egg sensitivity that creates severely painful hives, corn allergy (but I was cleared by an allergy doctor after doing the 4-hour in-office test) however, I still avoid corn when possible since removing it from my diet greatly improved by migraines. I have multiple other food sensitivities, however, given they are not life threatening I tend to relax a little on those while traveling since I have enough of a list to give the wait staff when we sit down
Daughter: diagnosed Celiac on 4th birthday by endoscopy and 100+ on her tTG-IgA test (age 9 for our trip this year and in full remission with a negative antibody count) so she is already managing very well prior to the vacation
Son: recently diagnosed by blood test with almond and egg allergy and still going through additional testing
I will start with Aulani’s restaurants if you plan to stay there with your celiac family this was our experience…
Off the Hook: This restaurant is a quick service dining location and does not require a reservation. The manager that was working the night we got there happened to be at the hostess stand and ended up taking our order. She walked us through everything that was gluten free and vegan. Here is what we ordered:
Son: Vegan bun, medium well burger, side of fruit
Daughter: Gluten free bun, medium well burger, side of fruit
Mom: Mahi Mahi Fish Tacos, no dairy, no sauces with a side of fruit + Quinoa salad with no dairy and no dressing
Eat again? Yes. The food was satisfactory and they had options. We loved their ease of ordering and fully understood how to manage celiac preparation.
Makahiki: This is a reservation encouraged 3-course meal restaurant that is very pricey and we did have to ask the wait staff to please send out the chef even after we mentioned all our allergies. We went for breakfast one morning which was $220 for four people. Our wait staff had food brought to our table, but the waiter had no idea if it was gluten free so I immediately sent it back and we started over. Just make sure to speak to the chef first.
Son: vegan pancakes and side of fruit
Daughter: gluten free omelet with spinach & cheese (adult version-not on kids menu) with a side of fruit that they took great care to cook in a separate pan
Mom: gluten free and vegan waffles (they told me this was the only thing I could order on the entire menu). I ordered it with no syrup and ate it plain and dry. I had a side of fruit and red potatoes with it that they cooked in olive oil for me in a separate pan.
Eat again? No. Our family would likely not eat here again given the limited choices and difficulty with the service staff, but we did not get sick and our kids were able to have a character breakfast experience so that was a huge plus. It was a great one time visit.
Aulani Luau: We reserved tickets months in advance for this Luau and I highly recommend paying for preferred seating if you can swing it. They reserve your seats, so you don’t have to rush or worry about being downstairs to stand in line at a certain time. In addition, your table is closer to the front by the stage. We received fruit appetizer bowl with white fish then a second plate of multiple options of meat from pork, chicken to beef. I am sure they will offer a vegan option if you need it. They took every food allergy in our family seriously and had a manager come verify it with us before bringing out our food. Not only was the food tailored to each one of us but the show itself was incredible and well worth the money in my opinion.
Shave Ice at Aulani: The chef at Aulani told us this is corn syrup and sugar and is gluten free. We opted for no condensed milk topping to keep it dairy free.
Dole Whip: This is also gluten free and dairy free and absolutely delicious.
Four Seasons Oahu experience…
Catering service/specialty menu options (if you are looking to do a vow renewal or get married here I HIGHLY recommend it).
Daughter and Son: gluten free cheese pizza, pineapple sorbet, veggies with dipping sauces (the chef gave our kids multiple options but this was what they wanted)
Mom: Steak with purple sweet potatoes and a couple different fish and sushi variations that were delicious!
Let’s talk about the chocolate cake again. I mean this was hands down the best cake I have ever eaten and it was gluten, dairy, egg and vanilla free. My husband has no food allergies and said this was the best cake he had ever had, as well. That was a huge compliment!
This resort is a soy free facility - they use Tamari products instead.
North Shore - Haleiwa…Our Day Trip Review!
Nalu Health Bar & Cafe: Okay, so we literally walked around for a while trying to find the best place to eat lunch during our trip to North Shore. It’s tough with allergies to shellfish, dairy, gluten and egg, given all the delicious food trucks that serve shrimp. It’s a thing in Haleiwa and my husband was told by a local in North Shore to skip Giovanni’s and go eat at Big Wave just a short walk away from the Food Truck parking lot across from Jenny’s Shrimp Truck. My husband got his plate of shrimp and said it was good, but didn’t rave about it. They had a cute set up with a place to take pictures and a sign that they are ranked in top 25 food trucks in the country so he may not have gotten their signature dish. After we watched him eat his lunch, we walked into 5 restaurants finally to be directed to Nalu Health Bar & Cafe! It’s a very small place and you order at the counter and there are only a few tables available to sit down inside. Their Acai bowl was absolutely fantastic, dairy free (they do add honey so it’s not vegan) and their Ahi Tuna gluten free sandwich was pretty good! I didn’t mind that it was cooked more than usual since it was in a sandwich. This place is not 100% gluten free. They were nice enough when we ordered, but I wouldn’t say they were excited about helping us, yet will not say they were unhappy about it. It was more like a “yea we have lots of gluten free food options” and that was it. We didn’t get sick, the food came out exactly like we ordered it and it was very reasonably priced.
Island Vintage Coffee: They are one of our favorites on the island of Oahu and have delicious gluten free options. Had we known about them during our trip to North Shore we would have eaten here and ordered the gluten free Shoyu Ahi Tuna. The gluten free bread was a favorite of my kids. The location is also great right next to the Shaved Ice, cute boutiques, turf grass for the kids to run around and still close enough to the beach so you can park once and walk from watching the surfers to breakfast/lunch in a short walk.
Waimea Valley - North Shore…
Waimea Valley Hike with Family: Take snacks and waters in a cooler for the hike. It’s all paved and so easy we literally wore our flip flops for the entire thing but by the end my daughter was wishing she had tennis shoes. They do have a cafe with coffee and waters if you forget them but no gluten free options were available when we were there. Before you get to the waterfall there are bathrooms and picnic tables along the paved walkway (which is about as big as a street).
One tip for this hike - get there right at opening time. Check their website and make sure they are open the day you are trying to go. We had to make online reservations and pay for park tickets in advance. We arrived at 8:45am before they opened and by 10am the parking lot was packed. We were so happy we arrived early.
Diamond Head Hike and Waikiki Day…
This hike is worth it and we had a blast, but OH, my goodness the traffic. The drive (only 29 miles) from Aulani took us 1.5 hours during rush hour traffic and we left the hotel at 6:30am! By the time we arrived the parking lot was filling up fast and if you dont get a spot you have to park at the bottom of the hill and walk up before even starting the Diamond Head Hike. It was an easy enough hike for my 7 year old, but use sunscreen and wear tennis shoes! I had my daughter wear a hat to protect her face too from sunburn. My son will just lose his so he didn’t wear a hat, but Sun Bum has the hair sunscreen mist you can use if you dont want to lather up the hair with sunscreen to protect the scalp from burning. The path is paved for a short bit and then it’s rough terrain and steep stairs to climb to the top. There were so many social media influencers dressed in their most fashion forward hiking gear, taking selfies and trying to get the perfect picture. The view of Oahu is incredible and even more so when you turn around and notice you are parked in the middle of the volcano (my kids loved this).
Food tips for the hike: take a backpack with ice cold waters and some snack bars. You get moving so quickly with the crowd and the flow you really get so focused on getting up the volcano you forget to sit down to eat, but there are benches along the way if you need to take a break. Make sure to enjoy the view then head to Waikiki for some breakfast!
Waikiki: First, let me say it was REALLY hard to find a super casual (post hike) place that was safe for celiac disease. Many places say they have gluten free buns for sandwiches but just one minute talking to a waiter and looking at the restaurant and I got all the red flags I needed and kept moving. If planning to eat lunch in this area, I highly recommend packing a delicious picnic lunch and eating near the beach while you people watch. It really is very hard to find trustworthy restaurants in this area if you are dressed in your bathing suits and or sweaty from a long hike in the morning at Diamond Head. There are very high end stores on the main street near the beach and some very nice restaurants mixed in with super casual Cheeseburger or Mexican food places to eat. There are chain restaurants but we typically shy away from the ones they have in Waikiki so I didn’t even consider them as an option. One thing we gravitated towards was the gluten free and dairy free Açaí Bowls which can be found everywhere in Oahu if we were hungry and needed something right away. Just make sure to order it gluten free with no granola.
Island Vintage Coffee in Waikiki: We really enjoyed this place and I felt okay about the cross-contamination precautions after talking to the staff, but the menu has a disclaimer that food is made on shared equipment. We took a chance after reading up on them online. Island Vintage Coffee in Waikiki has a much bigger menu than the other locations on the island. They have breakfast, coffee and lunch. It’s situated upstairs in the mall in the Royal Hawaiian Center off Kalakaua. The gluten free Shoyu Ahi and Salmon with Quinoa/rice was mine and my husband’s favorite. My daughter chose the gluten free Wagyu burger with cheese and loved it. We always stay away from french fries unless their is a dedicated fryer when we travel so we opted for salads with no dressing and sides of fruit.
Kualoa Ranch and Kailua Beach…east side of Oahu (windward side, a.ka. my favorite side of the island)
This location on the island is a gem. I love how there are no major resorts on this side. The views are incredible and go from foggy and lush green cliffs that seem to trap the rain cloud above them making for an eye catching picture to a crystal clear and white sand beach. We had an amazing time on the ATV tour at Kualoa and stopped off at Kailua Beach on our way to the Ho’omaluhia Botanical Garden. They really do not allow pictures in the famous entrance area and will get you over the loud speaker if you stop to take them so we noticed folks parking at the visitor center and walking back to that spot on the grass to capture them. The best part about this location for my daughter was the Maui Mikes restaurant. It’s small, next to Starbucks in Kailua in a shopping center so it’s easy to miss but we used Waze and it got us there perfectly. They have gluten free fire roasted chicken that is out of this world good and a dedlcated fryer for perfect gluten free french fries. My daughter had literally never had these in her life since was diagnosed on her 4th birthday and she is 9 years old now. She was in heaven, especially at her age. Her face says it all and the employees were incredibly kind and without me saying a word assured me they use separate prep space, cutting boards and will change their gloves. These are the moments a celiac/celiac parent will tear up - not saying I did, but maybe I did. :)
Oahu Airport Warning for Celiacs!
There are pretty much NO places to eat in the airport that are truly safe. California Pizza Kitchen immediately told us all pizza’s are made on shared equipment and there is no way they can accommodate us. The restaurant in terminal C was open (many places in the airport are closed right now) and the waiter was not at all interested in helping us with our food allergies. You had to order on an app and they didnt give you any space to make adjustments to the food other than 3 words. When you have to add gluten, dairy free. No sauces. No french fries, sub salad it just didnt work out. The waiter finally agreed to take our order “the old fashioned way” but honestly I was worried about getting sick. I had packed a ton of snacks but we had been there for hours and I desperately wanted real food. Just come prepared and you will be okay - if you are waiting on your flight for a while there is a gorgeous cultural garden if you get a chance to go see it and to top it off they have Koi fish and ducks to entertain the kiddos. Mine loved the sunshine on their faces after being inside for so long. It was nice before we finally boarded our flight home.
I hope this was helpful for anyone with Celiac looking to go to Oahu! I hope as the years pass there are more dedicated gluten free places in Hawaii as there seems to be a big need for it.
All the best,
Shauna