The UNL Dairy Store opened in 1917 as Varsity Dairy, selling all-you-can-drink milk for a nickel to students who brought their own cups. A century later it’s a Lincoln institution: handmade ice cream, cheeses, and meats produced by students in UNL’s food science program, sold out of the Food Industry Complex on East Campus. New flavors rotate daily, and there’s a happy hour from 2:00 to 3:30 that regulars plan their afternoons around.
The local color: this is a generational thing. Alumni who haven’t set foot on campus in twenty years still ask about the Dairy Store first. The trailer shows up at Jazz in June and the Nebraska State Fair in summer, but the real experience is the counter on East Campus, where the menu board changes and the scoops run generous.
Open daily, mornings into the evening (Sundays open a bit later). The store also ships Husker gift boxes of meats and cheeses through its online shop — a genuinely good Nebraska gift for someone far away.