Fast food has usually been more expensive than (not just “not at a discount to”) better food, ceteris paribus, because you are paying for “fast” in both money and quality.

It is less expensive than better food that also has higher grades of service when the demand for service at the level at issue is sufficiently great compared to the demand for speed.

Sad and self-correcting by self-eliminating consumers. But that will take time and smaller markets are a net negative for the survivors.