My husband and I both come from great Jewish Deli states (Michigan and NYC.) We both know what good Jewish Deli should taste like and Chompies is.....OK. I can forgive the bread. I understand that on this side of the country it is simply impossible to make really good bread because of the water. Chompies rye bread and bagels are actually the best I've tasted in Arizona. What I can't forgive is the corned beef and pastrami. They are both so chewy and fatty and I don't understand why, even if I order it lean it still comes out extremely fatty! To be honest every time I've tried a sandwich from Chompies I've been disappointed.
When we go here my husband usually orders a cheeseburger, he loves Chompies cheeseburgers, their fries and coleslaw are also very good. I usually get a chopped liver appetizer. Their chopped liver is amazingly good; it reminds me of my childhood making chopped liver with my grandma in her kitchen! My new love at Chompies is the brisket sliders, they are yummy! Their brisket is really really good and it's a huge amount of food! I always take at least one home. I'm going to try the western sliders next time we go, I'm sure they'll be as good as the original.
I go to Chompies at least once or twice a month to pick up a ridiculous amount of smoked fish for my husband and me to eat over the weekend. They have all the classic smoked fishes you'd expect at a Jewish Deli, my personal favorite is sable; yes it is worth $40 a pound :) Their whitefish salad is also really good, it has large pieces of white fish in it and scallions. They also have a lot of different flavors of cream cheese including my husband's favorite, olive pimento. The bakery section takes me back to my childhood. It reminds of going to the Jewish Bakery on Friday mornings with my mother to get bread for Shabbat dinner. It doesn't hurt that they have my favorite apricot hamentacshen!