Chompie’s is a New York Inspired Style Deli Restaurant with a few locations through out the metro phoenix area. They are an institution in the area and have been in business for close to forty years. They are well known for all-day breakfast, bagels, breads, sandwiches, desserts and more. They also happen to have the “Chutzpah” to offer deep fried matzo balls with chipotle ranch dressing on their menu. (“Oy Vey”)

This is the 5th location of this newly opened Chompie’s and is in the Arrowhead Town Center by the Macy’s Department Store.

Honestly I wasn’t expecting much because I already dined at the Paradise Valley Location and was very underwhelmed there. I really only thought I’d try them again because it was near me and they sell real belly lox and I wanted to purchase some. Real belly lox as far as I know is only sold at Chompie’s and one small independent deli called Scott’s Generations.

Perhaps I didn’t taste the real Chompie’s before?

We were welcomed warmly by several people working there. The matronly hostess said your gonna love this to us as she seated us..

Soon someone runs out a complimentary a small tray of kosher and half sour pickles that seem like they might be house made.

I ordered a half pastrami sandwich with matzo ball soup. My husband orders a triple decker sandwich of pastrami, corned beef and brisket.

Soon the sandwiches arrive and here they are……..

My 1/2 sandwich is filled with more meat than most whole sandwiches. To my surprise the pastrami is very good. It’s smokey and balanced with lots of flavors and is also very succulent with the right amount of fat. It’s all grilled and delicious. This is unlike my one and only experience at the paradise valley location were all i tasted was smoke and very little spice or the right succulence. This is much better and so fresh tasting. It’s so much better than what I tried from the other location.

Even the meats in my husband’s sandwich were good and far better than what we remember trying before at the Paradise Valley Location. We were both pleasantly surprised.

I can’t help to wonder if we hit the other place on an off day??……. Don’t know.

Finding good bread in Arizona is like hitting the lottery. It just doesn’t happen.

The bread is not New York or East Coast at all but still is a very tasty bread and better than  much  other of the rye bread you can buy in Arizona. Real New York Rye has a hard crust, is usually cut thin and has this perfect developed flavor of sour against the rye to bring out more flavor. Chompie’s bread is different and is sweeter, softer and milder but this bread is tasty.  If your from Arizona this is very good bread. If your from the East Coast it’s not the same. You must need to know bread in Arizona and California bread is not the same as east coast rye. I don’t know if it’s the water or the atmosphere or a combination of other things. The bread is different but there are a few small artisan bakeries in Arizona and California where you can get something closer to East Coast Style. All that said the bread does hold up to the massive sandwiches that Chompie’s serves so that’s a good thing that must be said.The bagels are tasty but are not like east coast ones either. They are twice the size and lighter and fluffier and don’t have the same chew and structure.

Well this is Arizona so things do differ.

Back to my sandwich. I liked that Chompie’s grilled the bread to perfection in my sandwich. This day it was among one of the better pastrami sandwiches I tasted in Arizona.

The cole slaw was very good. It was fresh and crisp and bright with flavors. I also think the potato salad was maybe the first potato salad I tried that tasted like from what I had from the east coast.

The matzo ball soup was the only thing that wasn’t near the same level to me. Don’t get me wrong it was OK but not what I’d consider a representation of typical matzo ball soup. This is Chompie’s version.

The soup was clearly soup base and could have been better if they didn’t use so much soup base.  What you need to know about matzo ball soup is that it’s all about the matzo ball. It should be light, fluffy, flavorful and is a sponge to suck up a natural light broth. A fresh piece of dill also brightens it up to make it delicious. Well that’s my taste. Not everyone is as picky as me or has an idea what it should be like. I’ll try a different soup next time.

After our meal we visited the deli side and ordered our belly lox.

I didn’t notice belly lox on the menu but I knew it was there. At the counter they were offering samples of some of the desserts. I tasted a chocolate filled flaky pastry of some sort. It was really awesome. It made me happy because I haven’t tasted anything this good from three  certain nearby bakeries.

Look at this case. The desserts look awesome! My butt widens just looking at the desserts.

Well Chompie’s is a place I can visit again. Hopefully they will stay as good as what I tried.

I wish them luck and mazal tov.

I’m happy they opened here because the food is much better than from the mostly big chains that are found in this part of town.

For more information on Chompie’s please visit www.Chompies.com