Knock once for knockwurst

It seems to be a little-known fact, but supermarkets – even those in the same chains – don’t always carry the same items. It’s very helpful, then, when Taste of the Town readers spot elusive items in some stores and respond to help someone who’s searching for them.

For Steve Vinik, Ella Catucci emailed that she found Hebrew National Knockwurst at Smith’s at 55 Valle Verde Drive in Henderson, Colleen Sams found it at Albertsons at 2650 W. Horizon Ridge Parkway in Henderson, Alan B. Van Ees found it at Smith’s at 2385 E. Windmill Parkway in Henderson, Toni Ermini found it at Albertsons at 8350 W. Cheyenne Ave. and Vinik himself spotted it at Food 4 Less at 2271 N. Green Valley Parkway in Henderson. …

For Kathy Coty, who’s looking for restaurants in the northwest part of the valley that serve a good prime-rib dinner, we received only two recommendations, and neither was in the northwest: Karen A. Parrish recommended Charlie’s Lakeside at 8603 W. Sahara Ave., which serves it on Fridays and Saturdays, and Phil Pfeifer recommended The Steak House at Circus Circus, 2880 Las Vegas Blvd. South. …

For Jack Markus, who’s looking for a Polish sausage called prasky, Melissa Brearey suggested that the Polish Deli at 5900 W. Charleston Blvd. can slice up a “very close version.”…

For Laura Denenberg, who’s looking for Damson plum preserves, Paul Taylor emailed that Hartley’s Damson jam is available at the International Marketplace, 5000 S. Decatur Blvd. …

For Margi Nix, who’s looking for frozen flat dumplings for chicken and dumplings, Barbara Hardy reported spotting them at the Wal-Mart Neighborhood Market at 6151 W. Lake Mead Blvd. …

And for Jack DeMichele, Jennifer Esposito said she gets Porkette smoked pork shoulder butt at Glazier’s Food Marketplace, 8525 W. Warm Springs Road. …

Here are more reader requests.

Van Ees: packaged plain oatmeal without raisins or any other additions;

Esposito: supermarkets that sell and restaurants that serve soft-shell crabs;

Jim Plumer: Tai-Pei teriyaki noodles, which he used to get at Wal-Mart;

Kate Defloria: La Martique Blue Cheese Vinaigrette;

Joe Garza: a local source for BV Sauce;

Ilse Goebel: Sure-Jell;

Suzanne Boone: cornmeal mush (not polenta) in a tube, which she used to get at Smith’s;

And Pam Guzek: exceptionally hot horseradish;

Readers?

Submit information to Heidi Knapp Rinella, P.O. Box 70, Las Vegas, NV 89125-0070. You also can send faxes to 383-4676 or email her at hrinella@reviewjournal.com. Include your first and last names and, if emailing, put “Taste of the Town” in the subject line. Because of the volume of mail received, we can’t respond to each request.