Columbia, MOCheap Eats

Beef birria tacos with a rich dipping consommé from the spiced cooking broth.

Sparky’s sells scoops from a Ninth Street storefront that Vox Magazine describes as well known to Columbians for unique flavors, switched up often to keep people coming back, in a room hung with eccentric paintings. Manager Anthony Layson says the crowds date to 2011, when a limited-edition flavor made from that summer’s cicadas went viral. A single scoop keeps the stop cheap, and the flavor board changes enough that a regular order is hard to settle on.

Andy’s makes frozen custard rather than ice cream, with egg yolks worked into the milk and cream, and Vox Magazine reports it is known for seasonal jackhammer custards and for mixing and matching flavors. The business began in Osage Beach, Missouri, where John and Carol Kuntz named it for their son. The Nifong Boulevard walk-up window is inexpensive, quick and open late enough to work as a dessert stop after a cheap dinner elsewhere.