Is This Year's EPCOT Food and Wine Festival Made for Gluten-Friendly Diets?

The 2021 EPCOT International Food & Wine Festival will be starting in just a few days!

The Food & Wine Festival Will be Starting Soon!

Recently, Disney shared the full menus for all of the food booths, including the new booths that will be joining the Festival this year. There are some fan-favorite returning items and a whole bunch of new treats to try this year. As we reviewed the menus though we noticed one type of guest (or one type of diet that guests may have we should say) that this Festival seems to be VERY friendly toward.

Each year, things with the Food & Wine Festival generally change a bit. Sometimes that means a number of new booths. Other times that means lots of new items at returning booths. Sometimes you’ll see more plant-based items added. Or maybe you’ll notice more kid-friendly items become available.

Some New Items You’ll be Able to Enjoy at the 2021 Food & Wine Festival! ©Disney

This year we noticed something different. Do you have a diet that requires you to eat things that are gluten friendly? Or do you just prefer to eat gluten friendly items? Then you might be especially happy with this year’s Food & Wine Festival menus!

Sweet and Spicy Bush Berry Shrimp with Pineapple, Peppers, Onions, and Snap Peas from the Australia Booth

We’ve seen gluten free or gluten friendly items offered at the Food & Wine Festival in the past. But, the options have previously been much more limited. For example, at the 2020 Food & Wine Festival there were only about 7 items that were gluten friendly. This could have to do with the fact that the festival was modified due to COVID-19 though.

Pao de Quiejo from the Brazil Booth

At the 2019 Food & Wine Festival there were a bit more gluten friendly options. Still, there were only about 13 items specifically identified as gluten friendly.

Roasted Lamb Chop with Sweet Potato Puree from the 2019 Australia Booth

But, this year there’s a LOT more. For the 2021 Festival, we’ve spotted over 25(!!!) items that Disney has identified as gluten friendly. In some instances, it’s just a single item at a booth. But, other times an entire booth or most of the items at a particular booth are actually gluten friendly. Again, we have seen gluten friendly items or booths with many gluten friendly items in previous festivals, but not really to this extent (at least not recently).

Many Items at the New Brew-Wing Booth are Gluten Friendly! ©Disney

Many of the gluten friendly items available this year are ones we’ve seen in the past like the Le Cellier Wild Mushroom Beef Filet Mignon at the Canada Booth. But others are new. For example, several dishes from the NEW The Noodle Exchange booth are gluten friendly!

New Items Coming to The Noodle Exchange ©Disney

Disney has previously expressed that they are committed toward making the food they serve approachable, safe, and fun for everyone, and it looks like this year they’ve really taken that commitment up a notch!

Click here to see the full list of items Disney has identified as gluten friendly!

And keep in mind that these are the items Disney has identified as gluten friendly. Disney has not identified these as “gluten free.” Also note that you may also be able to make other items at the festival gluten friendly by asking for a specific component to be left off. Be sure to speak with the Cast Members at the booths about your specific needs.

Gluten-Free Wild Mushroom Beef Filet Mignon with Truffle-Butter Sauce from the 2020 Canada Booth

It is interesting to see how the Food & Wine Festival menus change and evolve over time. For example, 1 BIG item isn’t on any of the Festival menus this year (hint: it’s a fan-favorite treat you can still find in other parks).

We’ll definitely keep an eye out for more interesting changes and we’ll let you know what we find. Stay tuned for more updates!

Click here to see the FULL menus for the Food & Wine Festival!

IT'S WINE & DINE TIME!

Food & Wine Festival can be a bummer. You stand in line waiting for what looks like the perfect treat, and it's a bust. But fear not, dear friends, we compiled EVERYTHING you need (and the things to avoid!) to plan the ULTIMATE EPCOT Food & Wine Festival experience.

If you're planning a day or a week at the festival, we've got every performance, activity, and tasty nosh detailed out so you can make the most of your time and money. Listen, it's a tough job eating and documenting the nearly 200 bites and sips, but we do it all for YOU!