Y’all know I really like ice cream. Its is my favorite food, it brings everyone joy, and I firmly believe it has no calories at all. You also may know of my love for the podcast, How I Built This, hosted by Guy Raz. There was a recent episode interviewing Jeni Britton Bauer on her journey founding this nationwide, artisan ice cream store. So you see, when i had the opportunity to go to Columbus, Ohio for a conference last month I was ecstatic – an opportunity to visit the founding city of this legendary ice cream joint!! I dragged everyone there and heres what we thought!

There’s tons of locations of Jeni’s (34!) and there are ten in Columbus alone! This store in Short North was on a street with a ton of restaurants and boutiques, looked like a lot of night life! I really liked the inside design of the store – it featured a huge blackboard wall with all the flavors, an area for seating in the back, it was all so aesthetically pleasing!

The amazing thing about Jeni’s is their variety and creativity of flavors. They have 22 flavors available, everything from Ndali Estate Vanilla and Darkest Chocolate to Wildberry Lavender, Ricotta Toast with Red Berry Geranium Jam and Riesling Poached Pear Sorbet. I wanted to stay there and try all of it, but that would make me kinda awful to everyone else in line.

While the flavors are very creative, the prices are definitely on the higher side. Compared to some Omaha joints, prices are usually 3.15-3.75 for a “small.” At Jeni’s, the small is 4.75 for one full scoop or two half scoops. I treated myself that night and got a “trio,” or three half scoops for 5.75. While this is definitely pricey for ice cream, I appreciated the opportunity to try a lot of flavors.

While it was *so* difficult to choose, I went with Bangkok Peanut, Goat Cheese with Red Cherries, and Frosé Sorbet. Each of these was so unique – things i’ve never had before! The first was peanut and honey ice cream with coconut, peanuts, and cayenne pepper – it was like eating a sweet and spicy peanut curry! I absolutely love goat cheese based ice cream, its salty and carries things like a cherry/jammy flavor really well. But the Frosé was amazing – they use actual rosé wine from Sonoma Valley, with pear, strawberry, and watermelon. You can taste the wine, but any bitterness it cut off by the fruit – its like a sangria sorbet!

This is a fantastic female-owned and operated ice cream joint that I will definitely continue to support. They just opened up a location in Washington, D.C. which I will be visiting for sure – maybe less frequently because the price and my affinity to Ice Cream Jubilee. However! This is still a fantastic ice cream company, reliably creative and high quality.

The Bottom Line

Ultra creative ice cream for a ~fancy~ treat – supporting a great company of course!

Cone Rating: 4.5 Cones! 

Price: $$ (5-6$ for a 1-2 scoops of ice cream)

Locations: All over the country!

On the Internet: Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams Website