My grandfather, who's from New York, has been taking me to this chain since before I even knew how to spell Chompies correctly. In my opinion, the best thing here always has been and always will be their pastries. Their black and whites are still the best I've had with the ones from Canter's in LA running a close second.
As for the rest of their food, it's not bad. It's not great, but it definitely runs a fine line between mediocre and pretty good. I think the issue is that the food is so filling and you just keep eating it even though you're stomach is screaming at you to convince you that it can't hold anymore. It's like comfort food with a vengeance. Go for the matzo ball soup, but DON'T order the fried matzo ball appetizer. It sounds potentially good, but it's deceptive.
In all, you've got to give props to this place for sticking around this long and still being family run. I'll still come back here, but I think it will be for the pastries rather than what I can get as a meal.