We were recently at Paradisus Los Cabos for a wedding and I wanted to share our experience (long post ahead!). There’s not a lot of info on traveling in Cabo San Lucas and San Jose Del Cabo as a celiac (I only found a few old posts in the Celiac Travel Facebook group mentioning specifics on this resort). This resort is in between the two cities. I’ll include our experience in town at San Jose del Cabo as well at the end!
Overall we had a great experience! Everything we ate was delicious at Paradisus Los Cabos!
I noted when we made our reservation that my husband had celiac disease and was “allergic” to gluten and wheat. When we checked in, they noted that we could make gluten free dining reservations for dinner. Here’s what we ate:
Breakfast: We found a staff member that understood celiac/allergies (it took asking a couple people – they first person showed us things that were “gluten free” but when we said “celiac” and “allergy” again and I showed our card from Legal Nomads they said, “we should make your food in the back because everything out here is possibly contaminated.”) They used a separate pan in the back to make GF chilaquiles (their chips were fried separately) and a GF omelet. They then asked what day we wanted to eat breakfast each day so they could be ready and then we talked to that person each morning. Lunch:
- We found 2 pool servers who also understood celiac and then stuck with them for the 4 day trip. We had steak and shrimp tacos and chips and guac. One day they had an al pastor taco special. Every time they brought our food they would confirm that they checked it was made special gluten free for us.
- Another day we ate lunch at Gabi Beach and my husband was able to order a skirt steak gluten free.
Snacks: the coffee shops had gluten free macarons and a couple other treats but they didn’t seem celiac safe since they shared containers with gluten items. The ice cream was gluten free, but I don’t recommend getting a milkshake as they have oreos as a mix in (or make sure the machine is cleaned). There are cones so it was a risk, but I would order first as a non-celiac in a cup the same flavor as my husband (celiac) in a cup and they washed the scoop.
Dinners:
- La Palapa was international cuisine and my husband had steak and octopus and the server was careful to modify his order compared to our friends. They even made a special gluten free dessert for him of fruit and ice cream.
- Ceilo was Mexican cuisine and we had tacos, birria soup, and flan. We panicked for a second when the flan had brown crumbles on the side, but we asked the server and it was coffee grounds (and I tasted to check).
- Room service – they said they could make 2 different pasta dishes gluten free with the same type of pasta and they seemed to understand the cross contamination concerns.
The wedding itself was at Baja Luna and everything was gluten free including the flatbread, sliders, churros, etc., which was amazing for him not to have to worry.
Prior to the resort time where we stayed during the wedding/family reunion, we stayed in downtown San Jose del Cabo and it was really challenging. We tried showing our card explaining celiac (paired with my rudimentary Spanish) at Barrio Del Tango and then they still put croutons on the salad unfortunately so we didn’t eat the full meal. I got excited about Choriarte because they labeled gluten free on the menu, but when I called, they said the only thing safe for a celiac would be the $100+ suckling pig and one other thing because everything else was cross contaminated. We did have gluten free pasta at Pietro’s Ristorante – they said they could make one variety gluten free for a celiac, so we ordered 2 of the same thing. We went to Walmart a couple times and found that most quick rice and tortilla meals had wheat, so we stuck to one brand of GF tortillas and cheese and made quesadillas in our Airbnb.
It’s a $5ish/10 minute Uber drive and they are more expensive restaurants, but Flora Farms and Acre were super easy to eat gluten free as a celiac. Flora Farms made the GF pizza in a separate pan with a lid. We also had a good meal at Hotel El Ganzo’s restaurant where they made a special meal for my husband and even brought him his own appetizer that was GF.
That was super long but hope it helps someone navigate the area!
Gluten Free Freitag 