The Pizza Paradox

One thing that I try to avoid when ordering from a restaurant is getting items that I could easily make myself. Why pay $15 or $20 for a plate of simple pasta, or $8 for a basic sandwich, if there are alternatives on the menu?

Generally, I also have no interest in fast food. Even if it's cheap, there's really no reason to buy a slab of chewy meat slapped between a couple of tasteless buns.

I will, however, indulge in a fancy version of standard fare. If a restaurant uses unique ingredients and/or a special cooking technique to create a new take on a basic item, I'm all for it.

Pizza is weird, though. I'd rather order from a cheap, lowbrow, fast food pizza place than have a shmancy pizza at a higher-end restaurant. I think this goes back to the first point above: I can easily create a shmancy pizza at home. Flat crust is simple to make... Special ingredients like sun-dried tomato, shrimp, or fancy cheeses can be readily bought at the supermarket. On the other hand, it's time-consuming to make a fluffy, thick crust, and a strange indulgence to pile basic mozzarella and chopped veggies on a pizza.

Right now you're probably thinking "Who on earth analyzes his fast food buying decisions like this?" I know. It's bizarre, but these are the sort of things I think about.

Anyway, I'm strangely fascinated by this conundrum.
Why does pizza break the rules like this? Or, rather, why do two contradictory rules both apply (and both not apply)?

Sometimes the low-end product isn't necessarily the worst choice, I guess.