KFC Northampton - Towcester Road

You've just spent three hours in B&Q debating paint colours and your stomach's properly grumbling. This KFC on the Towcester Road retail park might not win any beauty contests, but it does the job when you need proper comfort food after a shopping marathon. The chicken's consistently hot, the chips aren't soggy disasters, and crucially, they actually listen when you say 'no beans' on your wrap. The location works in its favour – plenty of parking spaces and you can easily combine it with your retail park rounds. Staff seem more switched on than some other branches around town, and the place stays busy enough that nothing sits under heat lamps for ages. It's fast food done competently rather than exceptionally, which frankly beats half the restaurants in the town centre.