Kielbasa Factory in Rockville

Polish sausages are not made at the Kielbasa Factory. Still, the display cases are filled with more than a dozen varieties, such as the garlicky, U-shaped wiejska (ask for "vee-YAY-ska"), made with pork and veal ($5.49 per pound).

"But that is our long-term goal: to one day make our own," says owner Krystyna Ahrens, a freelance translator from Krakow who opened this Polish deli and grocery in late November. "Until then, we will bring them in from a very good butcher in Chicago." The favorite, thus far, is the thin, foot-long, air-dried sticks of heavily smoked pork kabanos ($5.99 per pound).

Ahrens's efforts have not gone unnoticed. (The Washington area has been without a Polish deli since Gourmet Polonez in Silver Spring closed several years ago.) On a recent Saturday, her long, narrow shop was mobbed with customers filling hand baskets to overflowing with packages of frozen cheese pierogi and blueberry blintzes as well as traditional-style pickles, cookies and chocolates.

"Before, people traveled to New Jersey or Baltimore just for the sausages and bread," says shopper Kasia Gonzelez, 30, who was born in a small town near Warsaw and now lives in Fairfax. "We're all excited about the store."

In one refrigerated case, there were pretty chicken aspic salads ($2.99 for eight ounces), with slices of white breast meat, carrot and hard-cooked egg suspended in gelatin. (To serve: Release the salad onto a plate, cut into wedges and drizzle with lemon juice or vinegar.) We liked the vegetable salad ($4.99 for one pound) made of diced carrot, potato, celery root and peas, cooked so all the ingredients still had a bit of crunch, in a mellow, mayonnaise-based dressing.

Substantial sausage, ham or turkey sandwiches on Polish rye bread ($4.49 each), with a choice of assorted cheeses, are composed at the deli counter. While there, don't overlook the hearty cabbage rolls ($2.99 each) stuffed with well-seasoned rice and ground pork. Reheat them at home with the accompanying light tomato sauce.

For dessert or tea time, there are light and airy tortes. We enjoyed the layered, not-too-sweet poppy seed torte ($8.49, serves eight), which has a thin chocolate layer on top, with a hint of citrus.

-- Walter Nicholls

Kielbasa Factory, 1073 Rockville Pike, Rockville; 240-453-9090.http://www.kielbasafactory.com. Hours: Mondays through Fridays, 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.; Saturdays, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Sundays, 11:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.