Today, I’ll be talking about some of the best gluten-free, or at least gluten-friendly, restaurants and bakeries in Northwest Arkansas. If you’ve recently moved to the area or are simply passing by, you’re guaranteed to love these places – they’re not only accommodating to dietary restrictions but their food is cooked to southern perfection (which is a pretty high standard). If you’re trying to follow a gluten-free diet in Arkansas, you’ll have no problem sticking to it.
The best gluten-free places in Northwest Arkansas include Rick’s Bakery, Briar Rose Bakery, Buttered Biscuit, Pastafina, Ozark Co-Op, The Preacher’s Son, and Paulette.
Read on below to find a more thorough run-down of each of these places, including the unique qualities that set them apart from their competitors. Whether you’re looking for your new favorite bakery that offers gluten-free goods or a trendy restaurant that makes mouth-watering gluten-friendly dishes, you’re sure to find what you’re looking for in at least one of these places. So, without further ado, let’s get started!
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Best Places in Northwest Arkansas That Offer Gluten-Free Options
Here are some of the best places in Northwest Arkansas that offer gluten-free options – along with their most unique features:
Rick’s Bakery
The first place on the list is Rick’s Bakery, which is located right in Fayetteville, Arkansas. Rick’s Bakery is famous for making very specific gluten-free goods, which, in the baking world, is hard to come across.
The fact that such an establishment offers such a vast array of gluten-free options makes Rick’s Bakery quite unique, as the staff there goes actively out of their way to bake gluten-friendly options that cater to people with dietary restrictions or sensitivities.
The bakery is located right on College Avenue, so it’s easily accessible. Therefore, if you’re gluten-free or suffer from celiac disease, you’ll be happy to learn that a huge bakery such as Rick’s offers plenty of options just for you.
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Briar Rose Bakery
The second bakery I want to talk about is also located in Farmington, which is located seven miles (~11 km) west of Fayetteville. On the east side of the city, you’ll find Briar Rose Bakery.
The establishment is known for making fantastic cinnamon rolls and sandwiches; however, locals with dietary restrictions also love it for the wide array of gluten-free and low-carb options.
One of the best things about Briar Rose is that, unlike Rick’s Bakery, it’s a pretty small business, which makes its efforts at offering something for everyone even more impressive.
If you have an eye on one of their traditional cakes or pies, you can even call them and ask them to make you a gluten-free version – they’ll be more than happy to accommodate your request.
Buttered Biscuit
Next up on this list, we have Buttered Biscuit. Now, this restaurant is a bit bigger, as it has recently turned into a chain that operates in Fayetteville, Rogers, and Bentonville; however, there’s a good reason why the establishment has experienced such an expansive growth – their food is excellent, and they’re very accommodating to dietary restrictions.
You can simply go there and either pick something that’s already gluten-free off the menu or ask the cooks to make your dish of choice better suited to your dietary needs – they’ll happily oblige. Whichever approach you choose, you’re sure to receive a mouth-watering plate of food.
It’s hard to find a place that offers customizable menus while also providing you with that full restaurant experience, so definitely give Buttered Biscuit a try.
Pastafina
Pastafina, as you might’ve guessed, it’s a pasta restaurant, which would usually make it very hard for gluten-free people to find something that’d sit well with their stomachs. However, the place offers a customizable menu to help accommodate your needs. You can simply ask your waiter or waitress whether the chef can make a dish gluten-friendly, and they’ll be happy to help.
Ozark Co-Op
While in the area. You don’t want to miss out on Ozark Co-Op, which is just an overall fun place to hang out, whether it’s for coffee, alcohol, or food. Everything here is locally sourced, and you can find plenty of gluten-free and gluten-friendly products. They also leave a lot of room for customization, so you can make everything you eat or drink your own.
If you can’t find what you’re looking for, you can even ask them a day or two in advance to whip out a menu item you want, and they’ll happily accommodate your request.
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The Preacher’s Son
If you’re looking for a proper sit-down restaurant, you have to check out Preacher’s Son. The establishment has made its way into many of my “Best Places To Eat” lists because not only is the menu extremely accommodating to people with all kinds of dietary restrictions, but the food is actually fantastic.
The owner himself actually has celiac, so all his menu items are tailored to be 100% gluten-free. Moreover, the ambiance of the place is also amazing, resembling an old church building. It’s one of the best restaurants in Bentonville, so you definitely don’t want to miss out on it.
Crepes Paulette
If you’re more of a crepe person, you’ll love Paulette, which is located in south Bentonville. The crepes here, though gluten-free, are amazing. The place doesn’t use flour in its recipes; instead, it uses buckwheat, which is gluten-free.
So, if you’re on the lookout for a good breakfast place where you can order almost anything off the menu, make sure to check out Crepes Paulette. They also allow you to customize your own crepe so that you can add all your favorite gluten-free toppings – I guarantee you’ll be going back for seconds.
Final Thoughts
There’s no shortage of gluten-free bakeries and restaurants in Northwest Arkansas, so if you’re worried about accommodating your dietary restrictions, you don’t have to be. Every single option mentioned on this list would make its way to a “Best Places To Eat” list anyway, and the fact that they offer gluten-friendly dishes is just a plus. So don’t think you’ll be getting the last choices here; each place boasts an impressive menu of mouth-watering dishes.
So, if you’re ever in the state, don’t forget to pass by one of these establishments; I guarantee you won’t be disappointed.