When you’re on the road, the genius of the fast-food chain is that you know what you’ll be getting. But sometimes what they’re serving is not what you want. We get around New York a fair amount, so while we were traveling (to a Rhode Island funeral) on Easter Sunday we talked about writing up some of the places we’ve found over the years.

*”Restaurant reviews” are tricky. You wind up leaving out many terrific places, just because you can’t try them all. Chefs and owners change, which changes the whole experience. So a piece like this comes with no promises our guarantees… just a report of some of our own experiences between the Hudson and the Genesee. So leaving Steuben and Chemung Counties behind, let’s start with a stop at

*The Sunrise in Dansville. I eat here fairly frequently, and so do a whale of a lot of local folks. It’s a friendly place with good meals from a good menu. I’ve enjoyed the hash, the club sandwiches, the spaghetti, the egg-and-olive sandwiches. EVERYBODY enjoys the chocolate-peanut butter pies! The library’s right next door.

*Peppermints Family Restaurant, on West Henrietta Road in Henrietta. Always a friendly welcome. If a young man starting out in life were to ask my advice for getting on in the world I’d say, try the clam chowder. Try the Clam Chowder. TRY THE CLAM CHOWDER!

*Charbroil Family Restaurant, in Brighton. We discovered this utterly by accident, driving by when we needed a meal. Now we go out of our way to get there. It’s always crowded with local folks, but not so much that you stand around waiting. We’ve had breakfast, lunch, and dinner there, each more than once.

*For a light lunch and a light heart, eat at Pinwheel Market and Cafe by Milly’s Pantry in Penn Yan. Milly’s Pantry has a simple, straightforward goal – “so children won’t go hungry.” Patronizing the cafe supports the goal, and the food is always good.

*The Villager is our favorite spot in Canandaigua. We Rhode Islanders consider good Italian food a birthright. The Villager amply qualifies.

*Rhode Islanders also set a high store on fish and chips. And we love Doug’s Fish Fry in Skaneateles, where every day is Friday night, pre-Vatican II. Place your order at the counter, and wind up with more than you can comfortably eat.

*If you’re headed to Albany or beyond on I-88, the Duanesburg Diner can be a decent stop at exit 24. It’s an original manufactured diner, much added-onto.

*If you’re headed to New England via Newburgh Bridge, check out Stewart Airport Diner on Route 17K. We’ve had breakfast, lunch, and dinner there, and always done well. Despite the name (and the abundance of chrome), I don’t believe it’s a manufactured diner.

*But Quickway Diner IS an enlarged manufactured diner, down by the other end of 17K near Wurtsboro and Route 17. Back in 2011 they won a local consumer poll for best coffee, best breakfast, best soup, and best diner.

*I haven’t given in yet, but I’m sometimes consumed with temptation to hop in the car and drive three hours for lunch at the Miss Monticello (in Monticello) – also an original diner much enlarged. The motzaball soup is good, the hot pastrami on rye is GREAT – just about worth the trip by itself. You can gaze out the window and imagine you’re watching the hordes pass by on their way to Woodstock, just down the road. By the way, some years ago my wife and our sons were stranded at Miss Monticello for an afternoon because of an automotive breakdown. The folks there couldn’t have been nicer. Fast food chains are very useful. But exploring a little, and taking a risk, can serve up delicious rewards.