Handel's Homemade Ice Cream

With a cornucopia of sugary flavors and affordable pricing, this Ohio-based ice cream franchise hits the perfect middle ground between gourmet shops and bargain bin options like Thrifty's. Every scoop of ice cream is made in-store at each Handel's location, and the brand's captured my attention with flavors like Buckeye (peanut butter base with fudge ripple and buckeye candy pieces), Elvis (banana base with peanut butter ripple) and a delightful mint Oreo. While I’m admittedly less keen on the fruit flavors like strawberry, which tend to taste merely sweet, I love any flavor that uses cookies, candy, chocolate or peanut butter. Just note most of the shops are outside of L.A. proper: As of now, Handel's is open in Santa Monica, Culver City, Manhattan Beach, Redondo Beach, Downey, Pasadena, La Cañada, Long Beach, Northridge, Santa Clarita, Calabasas, Thousand Oaks and Burbank. In the city itself, there’s only one location in Los Feliz.