Columbia, MOIce Cream

Sparky’s is a downtown fixture that Vox Magazine describes as well known to Columbians for unique flavors, switched up often enough to keep people coming back, inside a room hung with eccentric paintings and irreverent touches. The shop takes its name from owner Scott Southwick’s white bulldog, whose statue still sits outside. Manager Anthony Layson traces the crowds to 2011, when a limited-edition flavor made from that summer’s cicadas went viral and turned the Ninth Street shop into a stop for curious visitors.

Frozen custard differs from ice cream by the egg yolks worked into the milk and cream, and Vox Magazine reports Andy’s is known for its seasonal jackhammer custards and for mixing and matching flavors. The business started in Missouri, where John and Carol Kuntz opened the first shop in Osage Beach and named it for their son, before it spread across fifteen states. Columbia carries three locations; the Nifong Boulevard walk-up window is the one on this list.

Randy’s also began in Osage Beach and still runs a shop there, and Vox Magazine reports the Columbia location is known for an elaborate list of flavors and color-changing spoons. Owner Scott Byergo names combinations after every local high school, so Grape and Butterfinger belongs to Hickman, Gummy Bears and Mint to Rock Bridge, and Blueberry and Butterscotch to Battle. Order by school if you want the local version, or build a combination of your own from the list.