• Photo by Drew Hyland
• Arcata Scoop

Starting with organic dairy products from Marin County's Straus Family Creamery, Arcata Scoop handcrafts wild and ever-changing assortments of frozen flavor delights. Sure, they have your classics -- chocolate, "just vanilla," mocha almond fudge. But why not try a scoop of candied ginger, non-dairy coffee (sweetened with coconut nectar) or (yowza!) jalapeño? The adventurous flavors are often extracted from produce grown on local family farms -- boysenberries, figs, pluots and more.

Try a few samples, order a double-scoop in a waffle cone (made in-house, of course) and grab a seat on the whimsical balançoire, a two-bench wooden glider seat outfitted with a bent-wood ceiling frame, a table and four hand-painted giraffes. Sweetness.

The Breakdown: Arcata Scoop 49%, Bon Boniere 19.8%, Redwood Yogurt 11.6%, Ultimate Yogurt 8.7%, Fresh Freeze 2.1%. Category popularity: 11th.