Coffee & Treats in Worthington

Though fourth-generation dairy farmer Jim King and his wife, Angel, craft the artisanal cheeses at Blue Jacket Dairy, it’s fair to say that the creamery is a fifth-generation family business. The youngest members of the King clan are already hard at work sticking labels on finished wedges of cheddar, quark, and mozzarella, as well as learning to communicate with cows through telepathy. The King family uses small-scale equipment to produce both fresh and aged cheeses, including its signature Gretna Grilling—a semisoft, halloumi-style cheese made with pasteurized whole milk. In addition to chevre, mozzarella, and feta cheeses, Blue Jacket’s team makes small batches of fresh, unaged cheddar curds, which it prepares plain or flavored with dill, chipotle, garlic, or ranch.

Inlaid between bright-green tiles, Matcha Frozen Yogurt’s self-serve banks pour out 10 frozen-yogurt flavors from a list that includes gluten-free, sugar-free, nonfat, and nondairy options. The independent shop’s flavors rotate periodically, filling 16-ounce cups with everything from classic alpine vanilla to new york cheesecake and hawaiian pineapple, all of which are certified kosher and contain digestion-aiding live natural yogurt cultures. More than 60 toppings, including fresh fruit, coconut jelly, and mochi, dance atop frosty surfaces like Olympic figure skaters covered in fire ants, and each hefty helping is priced by the ounce.

Inside, white folding chairs surround matching white tables that rest between tangerine and lime-green walls. Sunlight pours through Matcha's large storefront window, gently warming patrons, illuminating glistening, fresh toppings, and melting the arms off of Venus de Milo yogurt sculptures.

At Frosted Conspiracy Cupcakes & More, cupcake chefs whip up intriguingly delicious products in just about any flavor and form. Bakers concoct decadent chocolate, lemon, and strawberry cake in the traditional cupcake size, or up the ante with jumbo and giant cupcakes for hearty appetites or Honey, I Shrunk the Kids costume parties. Sultry adult cupcakes, such as peach bellini and sangria, pack an alcoholic punch without the buzz, making them the perfect treats to stock the shop’s cupcake bars, which customers can order for parties and events.

The Inside Scoop's ice cream-concocters sate dairy-craving palates by packing more than 20 flavors of Hershey's ice cream into crunchy cones and drenching each bite in more than a dozen available classic toppings. Specialty sundaes coat scoops in luscious ingredients such as hot fudge and pecans, while hot dogs, hot beverages, or steaming winter soups high-five insides to transfer their warmth. The Inside Scoop also boasts a party room that comes alive under the reflections of its 55" TV that can be used as a hook-up for computers during meetings, to display slideshows at parties, or for movie viewing while enjoying the shop's hot and cold delectables.

Catering to dessert-starved people of all lifestyles, the dessert crafters at Josie's Yogurt create mouthwatering flavors with health-conscious ingredients. Using pure crystalline fructose, a fruit-based sugar with a low glycemic index, allows the sweets stirrers to tempt palates without using traditional sugar, high-fructose corn syrup, cookbook cutouts of turkeys, or other unhealthful additives. Josie's offers many flavors that rotate through stores in groups of 12; Georgia peach swirls into cups with the ease of a southern drawl, and chocolate mousse allows customers to savor the pleasure of sampling a rich dessert without the guilt of having to steal the dessert cart. Regular, low-calorie, and sugar- and lactose-free options regularly dot the menu, filling bowls before being covered with selections from the 36 topping options and five sauces.

As a fourth-generation owner of Johnson's Real Ice Cream, Matt Wilcoxon is proud to distribute ice-cream flavors to 200 restaurants, help mastermind flavors with local companies, and avoid being locked in the ice-cream freezer again. Back when he was 12 and cleaning tables, “I was the one [the employees] always picked on,” he recalls. On a particularly creative night, the teenage staff hosed him down and shut him in the freezer. “I find it funny now,” Matt says chuckling.

Despite a trial-by-fire beginning, Matt knew during college that he wanted to run the family business. “We’re kind of Columbus’ original homemade ice cream,” he says, which is the impetus for Johnson’s current project. Matt and other local companies are “developing three new flavors…as a Columbus local collection” to focus on area flavors that Columbus knows and loves.

At the store—still in its original 1950s location—diners snack on classic and innovative flavors such as caramel cream, chocolate marshmallow, and Buckeye fever. An expansive outdoor patio welcomes diners with 50 seats, and bands croon sweet tunes in temperate weather.