The practical part
The essentials
Start at a market
WebTenerife lists the island's markets and gives the Mercado de La Laguna its own page: fruit, vegetables, cheese and the smell of the place, in the old town a short walk from the Intercambiador on line 15 or tram line 1. A market is where a vegan or gluten-free traveller shops with the least guesswork.
Checked WebTenerife: Markets of TenerifeWebTenerife: Mercado de La Laguna TITSA: Line 15 timetable
Eat fish where the boats are
Roque de las Bodegas, the main beach of the Taganana coast on line 946, is where WebTenerife sends you for papas arrugadas with mojo and fresh fish; the fishermen's cofradía and the restaurants of San Andrés sit beside Las Teresitas on line 910.
Checked WebTenerife: Playa del Roque de las BodegasWebTenerife: Playa de Las Teresitas TITSA lines 946, 910
Try a guachinche with the bus back in hand
Guachinches are the north's seasonal wine houses, on WebTenerife's gastronomy page beside the bodegas and the restaurants. They are rural by nature, so check the way back on the nearest destination's board before you sit down, and keep the wine for the evening at your base if the last bus is early.
Checked WebTenerife: Gastronomy of Tenerife: products, wines, guachinches, markets TITSA lines 100, 363
Gluten-free
FACE, the Spanish coeliac federation, runs CELIGUIA (once called FACEMOVIL), an app that lists the products on its gluten-free food list and the restaurants, hotels and shops its network advises. The app is for members of FACE's associations, but FACE says a visitor travelling to Spain can have temporary access: write to [email protected] before you fly. In the Canaries, ASOCECA and FACE run a gluten-free restaurant project: staff training, kitchen visits to find cross-contamination risks and a review of product data sheets before a venue gets the project's logo. This site calls no restaurant coeliac-safe: a venue in that network is where to start, and the questions below are what to ask.
Checked FACE: Federación de Asociaciones de Celíacos de España (FACE): restaurant network, "espiga barrada" mark, FACEmovil app FACE, Federación de Asociaciones de Celíacos de España: FACE: CELIGUIA app and temporary access for visitors to Spain ASOCECA: ASOCECA, Asociación de Celíacos y Sensibles al Gluten de CanariasASOCECA: ASOCECA and FACE: gluten-free restaurant project (training, kitchen visits, cross-contact)
Asking about cross-contact
A gluten-free recipe is not a gluten-free plate. FACE lists where cross-contact happens: a spoon or pan shared between dishes with and without gluten, oil that has fried anything with gluten, a shared toaster or sandwich press, a bread board not cleaned after use. So ask how the dish is made: separate oil, a clean surface and utensils, its own toaster. A "sin gluten" line on a menu, or a vegan one, does not answer that by itself.
Checked FACE, Federación de Asociaciones de Celíacos de España: FACE: when does cross-contact happen? ASOCECA: ASOCECA and FACE: gluten-free restaurant project (training, kitchen visits, cross-contact)
Vegan and vegetarian
No official source lists vegan restaurants in Tenerife, so this page names only venues that say it on their own pages. El Michi del Puerto, a few steps from Lago Martiánez in Puerto de la Cruz by its own description, calls itself a vegan restaurant with a 100% plant-based kitchen, and its menu has a section for açaí, breakfasts and pastries; its posted hours start too late for an early breakfast, a little earlier at weekends, and it closes on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, so think brunch rather than an early breakfast, and check the day. Govinda's, in Playa de las Américas, says all of its dishes are vegetarian and almost all are vegan: not all. Its menu lists cheese and paneer dishes beside vegan desserts, so a vegan asks which dish is vegan. Neither page says anything about gluten: vegan is not gluten-free. In any kitchen, papas arrugadas with mojo are the island's own plant-based dish; ask whether anything was cooked with meat stock.
Checked El Michi del Puerto: El Michi del Puerto: vegan restaurant in Puerto de la Cruz (menu and opening hours) Govinda’s: Govinda’s, Playa de las Américas: vegetarian and mostly vegan menu WebTenerife: Gastronomy of Tenerife: products, wines, guachinches, marketsWebTenerife: Markets of Tenerife
Wine
WebTenerife's gastronomy page puts the wines first: red, white and rosé from the island's own bodegas. The bodegas and guachinches are in the wine country of the north, between La Laguna, La Orotava and Icod, which lines 100, 103 and 363 cross; a tasting is a reason to make the bus back the last decision of the day, not the first.
Checked WebTenerife: Gastronomy of Tenerife: products, wines, guachinches, markets TITSA lines 100, 103, 363
Asked and answered
Questions people ask
Where can I eat gluten-free in Tenerife?
Start with the two associations' own resources: FACE's restaurant network and its CELIGUIA app, which a visitor to Spain can use for a while by writing to [email protected], and ASOCECA's establishments list from its gluten-free restaurant project for the islands. This site calls no restaurant coeliac-safe. In the kitchen, ask about separate frying oil, clean surfaces and utensils and a separate toaster, as FACE's cross-contact advice says.
Checked FACE: Federación de Asociaciones de Celíacos de España (FACE): restaurant network, "espiga barrada" mark, FACEmovil app FACE, Federación de Asociaciones de Celíacos de España: FACE: CELIGUIA app and temporary access for visitors to SpainFACE, Federación de Asociaciones de Celíacos de España: FACE: when does cross-contact happen? ASOCECA: ASOCECA, Asociación de Celíacos y Sensibles al Gluten de Canarias
What is a guachinche?
A family wine house of the north that serves its own wine with simple food in season; WebTenerife lists them with the bodegas and restaurants on its gastronomy page. They are rural, so plan the bus back before you go.
Checked WebTenerife: Gastronomy of Tenerife: products, wines, guachinches, markets
Which market can I reach by bus?
The Mercado de La Laguna, in the old town near the Intercambiador, on line 15 or tram line 1 from Santa Cruz; WebTenerife's markets page lists the others, several in Santa Cruz itself, where every line on this site ends.
Checked WebTenerife: Mercado de La LagunaWebTenerife: Markets of Tenerife TITSA: Line 15 timetable
Where can I get a vegan breakfast in Puerto de la Cruz?
El Michi del Puerto, near Lago Martiánez, says on its own page that it is a vegan restaurant with a 100% plant-based kitchen, and lists açaí, breakfasts and pastries on its menu. Its posted hours start too late for an early breakfast, a little earlier at weekends, and leave out Tuesdays and Wednesdays, so it is a late breakfast or brunch; check its page for your day. Vegan does not mean gluten-free: ask if you need both.
Is Govinda's in Playa de las Américas all vegan?
No. Govinda's says all of its dishes are vegetarian and almost all of them vegan, and its menu has cheese and paneer dishes beside the vegan desserts. Vegetarian is guaranteed there; vegan is a choice you make dish by dish, so ask.
Checked Govinda’s: Govinda’s, Playa de las Américas: vegetarian and mostly vegan menu
The other half of the plan
And the way back.
A long lunch in the north or on the Anaga coast ends at a single bus: read the last departure on the destination's board before you order, and let the wine wait for the base.
