Gluten-Free Trieste: pastry, gelato and pizza for coeliacs

Trieste’s centre is compact. From Trieste Centrale, where the trains and buses from the airport arrive, the Canal Grande in the Borgo Teresiano is about 10 minutes on foot and Piazza Unità about 15, by our estimate; the station, the Borgo Teresiano, Piazza Unità and Cavana, the old quarter just behind the piazza, are easy to walk between. The one climb is San Giusto hill: the Roman Theatre is about 5 minutes from Piazza Unità, and the cathedral and castle at the top about 10, uphill, all on foot and by our estimate. Most of the places on this page sit around that core. Gelato Marco is on Via Malcanton, a few steps from Piazza Unità; Il Melograno and Ginger are a few streets further south, about 5 minutes on foot from the piazza, and Rossopomodoro is on Riva Tommaso Gulli, by the Museo Revoltella. East of the Borgo Teresiano, Pasticceria da Ily and TNT Pub are a few minutes on foot from the Caffè San Marco, and Gelatodamare is on the far side of San Giusto hill, about 10 minutes on foot from the castle, by our estimate. I Sapori di Toni is further out to the north-east, about 25 minutes on foot from the Caffè San Marco. Miramare, the Barcola seafront, the Faro della Vittoria and the Risiera di San Sabba are outside the centre: take the train, a bus or a taxi.

A day that works (not a Monday or a Tuesday: Pasticceria da Ily and TNT Pub are closed on Mondays, the Museo Revoltella on Tuesdays, and from 12 October the castle on Mondays): start with breakfast at Pasticceria da Ily, an entirely gluten-free pastry shop and café with its own workshop; on Sundays it opens in the morning only. Walk down to the Canal Grande, about 10 minutes on foot by our estimate, past the Ponte Rosso and the James Joyce statue, and on to Piazza Unità and the Molo Audace, about 5 minutes more. Lunch is at Il Melograno, about 5 minutes on foot from the piazza: a mixed kitchen whose whole menu also comes gluten-free, and which says it is accredited by AIC; say the sentence and ask how your order is kept apart. The Museo Revoltella is about 5 minutes away. In the afternoon, climb San Giusto hill past the Roman Theatre to the cathedral and the castle walls, then go down the far side to Gelatodamare, about 10 minutes on foot, for gelato from an entirely gluten-free gelateria, if it is still open for the season. If it has closed, Gelato Marco by Piazza Unità says all its gelato is gluten-free; ask for the gluten-free cone or take a cup. Dinner is at TNT Pub, about 5 minutes on foot from Gelatodamare, from 18:30: a mixed pub where everything also comes gluten-free, with a griddle and a fryer used only for gluten-free, in its own words. The same sandwiches are made with gluten too, so say the sentence when you order.

Four places on this page point to the Italian coeliac association, AIC: Gelato Marco says its gelato is approved through AIC’s eating-out programme, Alimentazione Fuori Casa (AFC), and Pasticceria da Ily, TNT Pub and Il Melograno each state an AIC link on their own sites. AIC calls the places in its programme «informati», informed: staff trained on coeliac disease, AIC’s rules for preparing gluten-free food, a signed agreement, and an in-depth visit from AIC at least once a year. It is not a certificate, and joining is voluntary: plenty of kitchens serve gluten-free food outside it. In this region the association is AIC Friuli Venezia Giulia, which began in 1989 with a small group of parents of coeliac children meeting at the Burlo Garofolo hospital in Trieste; this year again it runs courses for restaurant professionals, in particular for the AFC network. AIC’s list of member places is for its members, but visitors can buy AIC Mobile Welcome, a 15-day version of the AIC Mobile app, also in English; on AIC’s map, only the places shown with the AFC logos are members. AIC advises booking ahead so the kitchen can get ready. When you book, and every time you order, say you have coeliac disease: «Sono celiaco» or «Sono celiaca».

Trieste’s own sweets are the trap. Presnitz and putizza, the city’s festive pastries, and the strucolo, Trieste’s strudel, are made with wheat pastry or dough, and so is most of what sits on a bar counter; buy your sweets at Pasticceria da Ily instead. The gelato can be gluten-free when the cone isn’t: regular cones and wafers are wheat, and so are flavours with biscuit pieces, so ask «Avete il cono senza glutine? Potete usare una paletta pulita?» (do you have a gluten-free cone? Could you use a clean scoop?) or take a cup. All four places for pizza and dinner on this page also cook with wheat, so ask «Come preparate la pizza senza glutine? Impasto, banco e forno sono separati?» (how do you make the gluten-free pizza? Are the dough, the work surface and the oven kept separate?). Watch the calendar too: in Barcolana week, 2 to 11 October 2026, with the regatta on Sunday 11 October, the city is very full, so book tables well ahead. On the night of 5 to 6 December, Trieste’s children wait for San Nicolò, who brings sweets and toys; for gluten-free sweets of your own, go to Pasticceria da Ily. For a picnic at Miramare or on the Barcola seafront, pharmacies (farmacie) carry gluten-free staples.