How we tell if a bakery is gluten-free
The gluten-free list only takes shops with a dedicated gluten-free kitchen that say so themselves, so a labeled tray in a mixed case doesn't get a shop on it.
After vegan, gluten-free is the question readers ask about every week, and it's even easier to get wrong. One gluten-free cookie doesn't turn a wheat bakery into a gluten-free bakery. This guide calls a shop dedicated gluten-free when the business itself says the facility is gluten-free or celiac-safe, or that no gluten comes in the door, and it has to say so on a page it controls, like an about page, an faq, an allergen note, a menu header or a certification it publishes. Reviews that say "they have GF options" don't get a shop on the list, and neither does wheat-free on a vegan menu or a line about being "almost all gluten-free."
Directories handle this in all sorts of ways. Some will badge any shop that sells one labeled bar, some want a third-party audit, and some treat dairy-free and gluten-free as the same thing, which they aren't. PortlandBread lists dedicated kitchens only, so if the official page says the case is mixed, or that the shop has gluten-free items from a kitchen that still uses wheat, the shop stays off Best gluten-free. That's why Sweetpea and Doe are vegan and still off this list, why Carina's is vegan without being dedicated gluten-free, and why Hail Snail can sell a gluten-free snail and still be a shop that uses wheat.
This guide only says "celiac-safe" when the shop does. If a shop prints celiac-safe or no gluten in the building, you'll see that quoted here, and if all it prints is "GF options," that's all you'll see here too.
For the dedicated kitchens already written up in the Journal, start with these. Petunia's is downtown and is gluten-free and vegan together, and New Cascadia is the Division gluten-free bakery that's vegan only where labeled. Sinful Confections is gluten-free and dairy-free on Barbur. Kyra's is the celiac-safe shop in Lake Oswego, and some of its menu is vegan while most of it isn't. Berlu is the dedicated gluten-free Vietnamese bakery on Belmont, where the pastries are dairy-free and the savory food may not be.
A few dedicated shops are on the gluten-free list without a Journal piece yet, so their place pages are where to start. Gluten Free Gem is the celiac-safe shop on Broadway in Eliot, and Kirari West is the dedicated gluten-free bakery café on Northwest 23rd. Hold The Wheat is in Beaverton, and every item in its case is gluten-free. Blue Moon Bakery is the dedicated production bakery in Hillsboro with a retail shop, and Mikiko has dedicated gluten-free kitchens in Kerns and Beaverton.
The gluten-free list stays short on purpose, since badging mixed cases would make it useless for people who need a dedicated kitchen. When a shop says so on its own site, it goes on the list. Best gluten-free has the shops already on it, and the Journal has the visits already written up.
More lists: Best gluten-free