No salad for you!

Noel and I have been intrigued by a restaurant, Conrad's Family Restaurant/Cocktails (whatever that means), since we moved here. It's almost always busy, but looks like kind of a dive...not a "hole in the wall" place that you'd actually try and discover it has amazing food, but a family restaurant/lounge/bar/who knows what, dive. A few of our neighbors have also been wanting to see what Conrad's is all about, so we decided to have our "end of the quarter celebration" there on Friday night. Let's just say we won't be going back anytime soon...or ever.
I was pretty excited when we walked in because the interior totally reminded me of Russ'! I love Russ'! The customers were all about 70 years old and so we felt a bit out of place, but still had an open mind. We were seated immediately and started to read through the abnormally large menu that had everything from breakfast, "Italian Fare", "Mexican Fare", Seafood, burgers, sandwiches, soup, fried chicken, etc., etc. Basically it's your one stop shop for any kind of food you want.
After spending a long time looking over the menu, Noel decided on the Fettuccine Alfredo and I decided on the Garden Burger with Sauteed mushrooms. My entree came with a choice of fries, coleslaw, or fruit on the side. However, I really wanted a green salad. So, I ordered my burger and then had the following conversation:
Server: "Would you like fries, coleslaw, or fruit with that?"
Me : "Could I substitute a side green salad?"
Server: "No."
Me: "Not even for an additional charge?"
Server: "No."
Me: "So, I can't even order a side green salad?"
Server: "No."
Me: "Ummmm, okay, I guess I'll have the fruit."

I was so confused by the whole situation. I have never been told that I can't substitute a salad! I know that at some places it's an additional charge, but apparently that wasn't even an option here. Anyway, Noel's pasta came and looked pretty sick. It was just cooked fettuccine with a thick white mystery sauce ladled over top (probably from some over sized can or jar that's been sitting on a shelf for months). He took only 2 bites and said it was so disgusting he couldn't even eat it. Luckily, he was give a side green salad with his meal and ate that (though we're pretty sure it had about a half a bottle of dressing on it). On top of it all, this place was not cheap! We could've eaten at MANY other restaurants in Pasadena for much less and gotten much better food. Oh well, it was a funny experience. We'll never know why it's always busy there, but we'll also never wonder what it's all about when we walk past anymore. The night was redeemed with a trip to 21 Choices, which was a much needed cleansing for our pallets.

Two big thumbs down for Conrad's!