Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams

Verdict: Worth a visit; and worth planning multiple

Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams on Grandview Avenue is the Columbus ice cream stop that earned a spot on Opinionated About Dining's Cheap Eats in North America list in both 2023 and 2024 (ranked #356 in 2024). That double recognition matters: OAD's cheap eats list is peer-nominated and editorially rigorous, which means this isn't tourist-bait dressed up with clever flavors. It's a place that serious food people return to. If you're spending time in Columbus and you eat dessert, this is a stop worth making; ideally more than once.

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The Grandview Avenue location sits in one of Columbus's more walkable stretches, open seven days a week from 11am, running until midnight on Fridays and Saturdays and 11pm the rest of the week. That late-night window is practical intelligence worth noting: if you're finishing dinner nearby and want something sweet after 10pm on a weekend, this is one of your better options in the area. No reservations required, no booking window to manage. You walk in, you order.

What founder Jeni Britton Bauer built here is a small-batch ice cream operation with a culinary seriousness that most dessert shops don't reach. The approach draws on real ingredients and unconventional combinations, the kind of flavor development that sits closer to a pastry kitchen than a soft-serve counter. The scent when you step inside reads like a working kitchen: dairy, vanilla, whatever fresh ingredient is cycling through the rotation. It's a sensory signal that something considered is happening behind the counter, not just a commercial mix being scooped.

For the explorer who wants to understand what makes Jeni's worth the OAD recognition, a multi-visit strategy pays off. On a first visit, go for a flavor that reflects the core identity of the operation: something with a regional or seasonal ingredient that you wouldn't find at a standard chain. On a second visit, take a risk on a combination that reads oddly on paper. That's where the real argument for this place gets made, the flavors that shouldn't work but do are a better case for Jeni's than any award citation. A third visit is when you stop deliberating and just order what you actually want, which is usually the point at which a place has earned its spot in your regular rotation.

As a direct peer comparison: if you've been to Big Gay Ice Cream Shop in New York City, Jeni's occupies a similar cultural position, a shop with a clear creative point of view that outperforms its price point, but leans harder into ingredient sourcing and flavor complexity than theatrics. If Fatamorgana in Rome is your reference for what inventive gelato can do, Jeni's is the American parallel worth knowing. Neither comparison is exact, but both give you a frame for what kind of ice cream operation this is.

The price point keeps this accessible. OAD's cheap eats categorization is accurate: you are not spending serious money here. That makes the value calculation easy, the risk of disappointment is low, the upside on a good visit is a scoop or two that resets your expectations for what ice cream can taste like. For food-curious visitors to Columbus working through the city's dining options alongside stops at Agni, Hot Chicken Takeover, or Ray Ray's Hog Pit Clintonville, Jeni's functions as a low-effort, high-return addition to the itinerary rather than a destination requiring planning.

Booking is not a factor here, walk in any day from 11am. The only logistical consideration is timing: weekend evenings after 9pm can draw a line, so if you want a relaxed experience without a queue, a weekday afternoon or early evening is the easier call. The Grandview Ave location is one of several Jeni's shops in Columbus, so if you're staying in a different part of the city, check whether another location is closer before making the trip to this one specifically.

For more on eating and drinking in Columbus, see our full Columbus restaurants guide, our full Columbus bars guide, and our full Columbus experiences guide.