Can You Top This?

Though they call it Brooklyn-style pizza, I believe the Village Pizzeria is a transplant from San Francisco.  There are two within walking distance of my place (if you don't mind walking a mile or so), one in Hollywood and one on Larchmont.  Whenever I pass it, it seems to be packed (so I rarely go inside).

But I was there recently and noticed something odd.  They serve pizza by the slice, and here are the prices as listed:

Neapolitan (Thin Crust)
Plain $2.25
1 Topping $2.75
2 Topping $3.30
3 Topping $3.80

Sicilian (thick Crust)
Plain $2.40
1 Topping $2.85
2 Topping $3.40
3 Topping $3.90

So you want just cheese, fine.  Want a little extra--mushrooms, pepperoni, whatever--for that one extra topping, with thin crust, add 50 cents, with Sicilian add 45 cents.  What's that, you want two toppings?  Okay, fine, for the one additional topping, with thin crust add 55 cents, with Sicilian add 55 cents.  Yet one more topping?  Thin, add 50 cents, Sicilian, 55 cents.

So the first topping is the cheapest.  The second topping costs the most.  The third topping costs the same or a little less.  What are they trying to tell us.  Hey, the first topping is easy, but that second topping really takes a lot out of us, we're gonna charge more for it.  We'll come down a bit on the third topping, though.

Is this any way to run a pizza joint?  I almost felt like correcting their menu, except I'm pretty sure the easiest solution is to charge more for the first topping.