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Hampden's popular Golden West Café has moved a few blocks west on the Avenue, and the new location is spacious and bright, comfortably mixing vivid Southwestern colors with cheerful kitsch--yard-sale paintings, thrift-store furnishings, that kind of thing. The paper menus are whimsically enclosed in vintage record album covers. There are two attractive and comfortable little seating ensembles near the entrance. Presumably, this seating can double as a holding area for dinner patrons and a coffee-drinking nook for Hampdenites, who used the old Golden West as a casual café as much as a restaurant.

The new Golden West's menu hasn't been expanded or tampered with much. It's still an appetizing and modestly sized offering of dishes inspired by the cuisine of New Mexico, with a smattering of Asian and other influences. The all-day breakfast, featuring Golden West's storied chorizo burritos, huevos rancheros, and huevos montulenos (corn cakes in place of the tortilla) remains temptingly in place.

A typical lament following a popular restaurant's expansion is that it didn't know enough to leave well enough alone; new menu items prove distractions, or someone starts putting on airs. In the case of Golden West's relocation from its original café setting, we left with the opposite notion. We wanted a little more assertiveness, some kind of statement, a few new creations to try. And while the dinnertime atmosphere is pleasant enough (and the new digs appear to be an ideally sunny brunch setting), it didn't feel like the place to linger over a long, friendly dinner. Partly this has to do with the beer- and wine-only license (a few margaritas would have definitely relaxed us), and partly because the food came out, of all things, too fast (we might have ordered a second bottle of wine if the entrées hadn't followed the appetizers so quickly). None of this keeps Golden West from being a good and affordable neighborhood joint, but is it a destination restaurant for dinner, especially given the travails of parking in Hampden? Only the food will tell, and after our dinner we were positioned squarely on the fence.

For an appetizer, we shared a good but not revelatory quesadilla ($8.95) filled with carne adovada--a traditional New Mexican preparation of shredded pork marinated in chile sauce--and jack cheese. The tortilla shells were nicely grilled, and the filling was hot and flavorful. This was accompanied by a green salad with homemade ranch dressing. Only minor quibbles--not enough zest to the carne adovada, somewhat too little cheese.

A griddled polenta entrée topped with the same carne adovada ($8.95) was successful, too. Same mild reservation about the pork, and the polenta would have benefited from more seasoning, too--perhaps some green chiles? This was accompanied by the good and familiar side salad, as well. A Pittsburgh steak salad ($8.95) placed well-treated flank steak on a salad of romaine, tomatoes, onions, jack cheese, and (this is what makes it a Pittsburgh salad) french fries. It was OK, but not as neat-looking or as much fun as it could have been. None of us really took to the fries, either.

Potatoes are also the unusual ingredient in Golden West's chicken fajitas. The potatoes arrived on top of the breasts of chicken, which required too much thought and then too much dismantling. And the breasts were left intact, even though shredding them before grilling might have made the meat more flavorful. Among the go-withs, the guacamole pleased everyone most.

A Vietnamese warm shrimp salad ($8.95) placed four healthy shrimp--sautéed with sweet onions and garlic--in a salad of romaine, mint, cucumber, slivered carrots, and cool rice noodles. A nuoc cham sauce--made with garlic, pepper, and fish sauce--was served on the side. The play of warm and cool didn't quite come off in this otherwise pleasing assemblage.

Our bill for four, including a $15 bottle of wine, came to just about $69. We weren't disappointed with our dinner, but we weren't excited about it, either. The exuberance of the new space seemed to pull up short at the table. I'm serious when I say that prettier plates--Golden West's are institutionally white--would help. A little azure, a little ochre, and suddenly everything feels a lot more special.

Enchanted: omnivore@citypaper.com.