Eating gluten-free in Augsburg

Augsburg is one of the oldest cities in Germany, home of the Fuggerei and the famous puppet theatre, and it sits exactly where Bavaria and Swabia run into each other. On the plate that means Weißwurst and Spätzle in the same city, and for you the same question about flour twice over.

Gluti offers guidance and is not a medical device. Its information does not replace medical advice.

Can you eat out gluten-free in Augsburg?

Yes, but you are better off planning ahead here. The number of checked places is still modest, and the centre stretches from the cathedral in the north across the town hall square and Maximilianstraße to St Ulrich’s in the south. The tram gets you everywhere quickly, but compare places only once you are out there, and you walk Maximilianstraße twice.

What the allergen information tells you is not quite enough. It has to say which of the 14 allergen groups is in a dish as an ingredient or a processing aid, naming the cereal itself in the case of gluten. It may be given verbally, in which case a written or electronic record has to exist and be made available to you on request. What it leaves out is everything that joins the dish while it is being cooked: the pan that held breaded food before, the water Spätzle cook in all evening, the pretzel broken apart over the plate at the table. That is the part you have to ask about.

What should I know about Augsburg?

The first thing is a cuisine between two regions. Augsburg belongs to Bavaria but lies in Swabia, and many menus put roast pork and Weißwurst next to Kässpätzle and Maultaschen. For you both are cuisines with a lot of thickening, breading and bread on the side. Good choices are often roast meat without the gravy, grilled meat, potatoes and salad. With anything that comes with a sauce, ask what it is thickened with.

The second thing is cake. Augsburg likes to call itself “Datschiburg”, after the Zwetschgendatschi, and in late summer it is in every bakery and café. Do ask cafés and bakeries for a gluten-free version. If there is none, a slice from the ordinary tray is no alternative, not even without the crumble.

And the third: Augsburg is a university city, and the students bring places serving bowls, burgers and vegan food. That widens your choice, but vegan does not mean gluten-free. Seitan is wheat protein, and many meat substitutes are bound with wheat.

Which Augsburg dishes contain gluten?

With the Bavarian and Swabian classics, the gluten is often in the dough or in what comes with the dish:

• Zwetschgendatschi (plum tray bake): A tray bake of yeast or shortcrust dough topped with plums, often with crumble. The dough is made from wheat flour, so flour is the foundation here. A gluten-free Datschi has to be explicitly baked that way, on its own tray.
• Weißwurst (white sausage): A fine forcemeat of veal and pork back fat, nowadays often with pork as well, classically without flour. Wheat gets in through a ready-made spice preparation with breadcrumbs or wheat starch, and the Brezn (pretzel) with it is broken apart at the table. Only the written ingredient record or a packaged product labelled gluten-free is reliable.
• Leberkäse: A finely minced meat loaf baked in a block, and despite the name usually without liver or cheese. The German food code generally allows cereals and starch in meat products, so ask for the ingredient list. At a snack stand it almost always comes in a roll, and the slice is cut on the same board.
• Spätzle and Kässpätzle: egg noodles made from flour, egg and often durum wheat semolina; spelt is no way out, it is a type of wheat. Kässpätzle come with fried onions on top, and shop-bought ones contain wheat flour. Gluten-free Spätzle need their own water and their own sieve, because wheat dough cooks in the Spätzle water all evening.
• Schupfnudeln: Finger-thick noodles made from potato dough, fried in a pan, often with sauerkraut. The dough needs binding, and that is almost always wheat flour. Potatoes being the main ingredient does not make them gluten-free.
• Gravy and soups: Plain country cooking thickens with a roux, and a thickened sauce cannot be rescued afterwards. Agree on a swap for starch before anything is cooked, or order the dish without the sauce.
• To drink: Augsburg has a long brewing tradition, and beer made from barley or wheat contains gluten unless it says “gluten-free” explicitly. Wine, sparkling wine and apple spritzer are naturally gluten-free. Malt beer and other malt drinks are made from barley malt and contain gluten. With anything containing syrup, ask.

Your best bets are meat, fish, vegetables, potatoes and salad without breading and without a thickened sauce. Ask about the preparation there too, for instance whether things are fried in the same pan.

What should I watch for at the market and the Plärrer?

The Stadtmarkt is Augsburg’s market right in the centre, with permanent halls and stalls for fruit, vegetables, meat and cheese. For you it is a good place to shop: fruit, vegetables, cheese in one piece and eggs are gluten-free in themselves, and at many stalls you can ask directly what is in the sausage or the spread. Take care at the snack stalls, where pretzels, rolls and Leberkäse all go over the same counter.

The Plärrer is Augsburg’s funfair, twice a year, in spring and in autumn. People eat on the move and in the beer tent: roast chicken, sausages, pretzels, roasted almonds, fried food. At a stall one fryer or one grill serves everything, and even when a dish’s ingredients are gluten-free in themselves, cross-contamination there is next to impossible to rule out. At the Plärrer, food of your own is not a stopgap, it is the plan.

How does Gluti help me in Augsburg?

In Gluti you can see on the map which places in and around Augsburg are listed. Every place is checked by the Gluti team before it appears. The level tells you how a place works: “100% gluten-free”, “Separate preparation” or “Gluten-free options”. For many places you can also see whether other people would eat gluten-free there again and what they were able to eat.

The list is still short, but that means you can see at a glance which place saves you almost all the asking. Save one favourite in the old town and one near your hotel or tram stop, and you will not have to start searching again in the evening. If you know a good place in Augsburg or Bavarian Swabia that is missing from Gluti, you can suggest it in the app.

Even checked information is no guarantee, because things can change in a kitchen. So ask every time anyway. Which questions work and which answers are a warning sign is in the article What to ask in a restaurant, and the background on fryers, pizza ovens and toasters is in the article on cross-contamination. For cake and pastries, the guide on cafés and bakeries is worth a look. And for talking to others: the German coeliac society (Deutsche Zöliakie-Gesellschaft, DZG) runs volunteer-led discussion groups across the country, and the DZG can tell you whether there is one in Augsburg or Swabia.