Qi Austin: Modern Asian Kitchen

The Short Answer

Not a dedicated kitchen, but one of the best Chinese options in Austin for celiacs. Qi marks more than 30 dishes “(GF)” on its own menu, including gluten-free dumplings. Order from that list, treat everything else as containing gluten, and ask about the fryer before ordering anything crispy.

About Qi Austin

Qi is a modern Chinese restaurant on West 6th Street, known around town for chef Ling Qi Wu's dim sum and a menu that mixes traditional dishes with luxury ingredients like lobster, truffle and caviar. Vegetables come from the restaurant's partner farm in Manor. It does lunch on weekdays, dinner every night, and dim sum brunch at weekends.

We ate here in October 2026 with a friend who has celiac disease and eats at Qi regularly, precisely because of the gluten-free list. We started with the Gluten Free Trio, and it was excellent.

Why This Is Unusual for Chinese Food

Chinese restaurants are some of the hardest places to eat gluten-free. Standard soy sauce is brewed with wheat, and it turns up in marinades, stir-fry sauces and dipping sauces. Dumpling wrappers, bao, noodles and scallion pancakes are wheat-based, and many sauces are thickened with flour.

Qi does the sorting for you. Instead of asking a server to guess which dishes might be safe, you order from items the restaurant itself labels gluten-free. That list includes dumplings, which are almost impossible to find gluten-free at a Chinese restaurant in Austin.

What's Marked Gluten-Free

These are labeled “(GF)” on Qi's online menu (checked October 2026; menus change):

• Dim sum and starters: GF Crispy Gluten Free Trio, GF Veggie Dumpling, Roasted Pork Belly, Crispy Brussels Sprouts, Pickle Platter, Szechuan Cucumbers
• Soups and salads: Crab Meat Corn Soup, Egg Corn Soup, Qi Signature Salad, Ora King Salmon Salad, Zucchini Salad
• Entrees: Salt and Pepper Shrimp, Pecan Shrimp, Salt and Pepper Lobster Tail, Jingdo Pork Loin, Mei Choy Pork Belly, Asian Fried Chicken, Imperial Tofu, Turmeric Ora King Salmon, Steamed Halibut with Shredded Chili, Wild Caught Whole Fish
• Rice and noodles: Truffle Egg Fried Rice, House Special Combination Fried Rice, chicken, beef, shrimp and veggie fried rice, Singaporean Noodle
• Vegetables: Sauteed Mustard Greens, Sauteed Pea Shoots, Baby Bok Choy with Shiitake, Seasonal Vegetables with Bird Nest, Salt and Pepper Tofu
• Dessert: Hawthorn Berry Sorbet

Not marked gluten-free: the famous soup dumplings, har gow, siu mai, scallion pancake, Peking duck, Hakka and chow fun noodles, General Tso and sesame chicken, and most of the desserts. Assume these contain gluten.

What to Ask Before You Order

The fryer. Several GF-labeled dishes are fried: the Gluten Free Trio, Brussels sprouts, salt and pepper shrimp, Asian fried chicken. We have not confirmed whether Qi fries them separately from battered, wheat-based items. If you have celiac disease, ask before ordering anything crispy.

Table sauces. The soy sauce on a Chinese table is usually the wheat kind. Ask whether they have tamari or a gluten-free soy sauce, and don't use the shared bottle unless they confirm it.

Say celiac, not just gluten-free. Qi is a shared kitchen with plenty of wheat in it. Telling your server it is a medical requirement is the best way to get extra care with woks, utensils and plating. Our printable dining card can help.

Hours & Practical Notes

• Mon–Fri lunch: 11:00am–1:45pm
• Sat–Sun dim sum brunch: 10:30am–2:30pm
• Dinner: from 4:30pm nightly, until 9:30pm Sunday–Thursday and 10:30pm Friday–Saturday

Hours are from Qi's online ordering page in October 2026 and can change. Confirm before you go.

Reservations are on Resy, and pickup orders are available through Qi's online ordering page, where the GF labels also appear. Qi is a short walk from the 2nd Street District, so it fits easily into a downtown visit. See our downtown Austin gluten-free guide for nearby options.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Qi Austin gluten-free?

Not entirely. Qi is not a dedicated gluten-free kitchen, but its own menu marks more than 30 dishes “(GF)”, including gluten-free dumplings, fried rice, a rice-noodle dish, seafood, meat and vegetable entrees. Anything not marked GF should be assumed to contain gluten.

Does Qi Austin have gluten-free dumplings?

Yes. The menu lists a GF Veggie Dumpling and a GF Crispy Gluten Free Trio appetizer, both marked gluten-free. That is unusual: dumpling wrappers are normally wheat, and few Chinese restaurants in Austin offer a gluten-free version.

Are Qi's soup dumplings gluten-free?

No. The signature soup dumplings are not marked gluten-free, and neither are the har gow, siu mai, scallion pancake or Peking duck. Stick to the items with the (GF) label.

Does Qi use a dedicated fryer for gluten-free items?

We have not been able to confirm this. Several GF-labeled dishes are fried, including the Gluten Free Trio, crispy Brussels sprouts, salt and pepper shrimp and Asian fried chicken. If you have celiac disease, ask your server how those are fried before you order them.