Sorry to say, the restaurants you despise are there because most people prefer them. There are fancy malls with fancy food courts for rich people, like Seattle Armory.
People in the US prefer inexpensive. They have a certain price point they don't want to go beyond. The Eatery I described was as far from "fancy" as possible. Dishes were under $10 and were rich in vegetable and protein content. They were also very flavorful. Eating flavorful food does not make it "fancy".
How fast food proliferated in the US goes beyond "fancy"/"not fancy".
