Gluten-Free Los Angeles: Odys & Penelope

So I was on my way to Sugarfish when I walked by this nice wood/glass/shiny metal building that seemed super cute. I made a mental note (La Brea and somethingsomething) to find out what it was, but then forgot. I remembered real quick when I met my friend in front of Sugarfish and they were all, “It’s an hour-and-a-half wait.”

Moms don’t play that. I mentioned that I’d seen a potential hipster joint, and my friend said, “Oh yeah, it’s great. Let’s see if you can eat there.” Turns out, that was a freaking great move.

Odys & Penelope know their gluten-free business. They also know farm-to-table, local and all that. It’s dang good. Also, I think Odys & Penelope are GREAT baby names. In fact, I’m pretty sure I know both and wow, cute names.

Cute salad too. It’s Brussels sprouts town there, people.

It’s entirely possible this is just my own insecurity and shame talking, but what just happened with all of these people being nice to me? After my (very competent) waiter explained all of the gluten-free options, the hostess came over to apologize because when I told her I had celiac and needed to know if I would be safe eating gluten-free, she had not immediately informed our waiter. So if I had “any more questions” or needed anything else, to please let her know. Incidentally, this was after mad reassurances that the entire staff had been trained in gluten-free dining.

I don’t want to get weird or ungrateful here—because let’s face it, I’ll be back to Odys & Penelope given my experience—but what the holy hell is going on? Everyone who is gluten-free should run, not walk, to Odys & Penelope because they’ve got that shit on lock down. But I can’t help but wonder, why?

So, yeah, totally go here and have an amazing meal that’s also ridiculously safe. You’ll be thrilled. I know I’ll be back as many times as my bank account can support. It’s freaking fabulous. But I would love to hear from the owners, who had another amazing LA restaurant, why they’re doing this. I love it. I just want to know.

XO, GIMB

4 thoughts on “Gluten-Free Los Angeles: Odys & Penelope”

If only more places were like this! Now it’s on my list for my first SoCal adventure.

This is awesome! I have the same suspicion when people are nice to me, just given the way I’m derisively treated on a regular basis here in the US. But I had this experience I can’t get out of my mind. I spent a month in Europe, and every time I told them I had to eat GF, they were actually knowledgeable and EXCITED to help me. They told me to stop apologizing (a trick I learned to do in the US to disarm people who would treat me badly), and they never poisoned me. Ever. They never disbelieved. I didn’t trust them at first, but near the end of my trip, I didn’t want to go home. I liked being treated like a normal person, like my celiac disease was no big deal.

I will definitely try this place next time I’m out that way. I want to encourage restaurants to be like this in the US, too.