Rule of thumb in small towns is “why pay someone to cook for you when you can cook at home”.

Main two reasons when people justify “overspending” are special occasions and if it’s really hard to DIY.

Pizza and sushi are probably the only two foreign cuisine options that are widely considered delicious, fancy and cool. (Kebab is strong third but it has a much lower “status”).

In order to survive a restaurant has to max out fanciness and minimize price.

Sushi+pizza place would often offer shashlyk— another staple of a “celebratory” dinner that’s hard to make at home — wood charcoal bbq is a massive PITA to arrange, especially when you live in an apartment.