Although the Stagecoach Inn has a new name, new owner and new menu, it still feels tired and uninspired.

It’s now PJ’s Stagecoach Inn, which may sound vaguely similar to PJ’s Bistro. That’s because Paul Jakubczyk (“PJ”) is expanding his restaurant realm. The Bistro (1015 W. Colorado Ave.) successfully focuses on recipes reflective of his Eastern European roots. Based on a recent meal at the Stagecoach, I’d encourage him not to quit his day job. That is, the pay dirt’s at the Bistro.

The best thing about the Stagecoach is the staff. Everyone with whom we came in contact was friendly, which makes it all the more disappointing that the food was dull and even a bit baffling.

For example, beef stroganoff ($17.99) was the nightly special. Our server explained it was made with rib-eye instead of ground beef. I’m not sure where it’s made with hamburger, but that variation sounds more like something from a cookbook featuring quick, weeknight meals.

Nonetheless, I recalled that stroganoff is on PJ’s Bistro menu and was told it was the same recipe: It was not at all reminiscent. I wish I’d been told that the entrée was a mega serving. Sure, it featured tender beef, sautéed onions and mushrooms in a brown gravy, but it was enough to feed a family of four. OK, perhaps not the entire family, but almost.

Served over egg noodles and grilled bread, the meal was an exercise in carbo loading. The bread, the Texas toast variety, had perfect grill marks on one side and was untouched on the other. The only thing it added to the meal, besides calories, was char. A smaller portion with grilled veggies and no bread would have been far more enjoyable. The sheer amount of food on the plate was daunting. I usually don’t find fault with large portions, but this was excessive. Even the couple sharing the dish a few tables away took away leftovers.

The menu features steak, pasta, chicken and fish, plus a lot of sandwiches, including burgers, with very few further details on anything. There’s a Gutbuster burger, which you might expect to be, well, massive; and the Western Burger (both $12.95). Fortunately, our server was more than willing to fill in the missing pieces. The Gutbuster is huge; it has pepper jack cheese and is smothered in green chili, and is big even without a top bun. The Western version is also topped with pepper jack cheese, but includes bacon and barbecue sauce. Yee haw.

We went with the Classic Cheeseburger ($11). For an extra $3 you can make it a bison burger. We didn’t realize until the food was served that we hadn’t been asked how we wanted the meat cooked; it arrived well done. We overheard others ordering burgers with no inquiries regarding preferences. We didn’t compare notes, though, so I don’t know if well done is the default mode or the (bad) luck of the draw.

Burgers come with a choice of potato salad, french fries or coleslaw.

Buttermilk Fried Red Bird Chicken ($17.95) and the Chicken Fried Bison ($19.95) were tempting. According to the menu the entrees are served with “whipped potatoes, country gravy and seasonal vegetables, unless otherwise specified.” After confirming that the potatoes are real mashers, we opted for the chicken.

Sure enough the spuds were the real thing with plenty of lumps to prove it; they just weren’t whipped, or those chunks would have been nonexistent and velvety would come to mind instead of lumpy. The chicken boasted a crispy coating hiding the juicy meat. It would have been difficult for it to be otherwise, since all four pieces were dark meat (a drumstick, wing and two backs).

Given the size of the portions, dessert wasn’t an option. Still the Ice Cream Alchemy ($7) is something I’m unfamiliar with. Unfortunately, so was our server. He explained that it’s ordered from Denver and has never been delivered, so he couldn’t give any details.

The Western decor looks the same as it always has, and it seems much of the clientele was from out of town. It’s too bad they aren’t likely to know that a few miles east is where PJ serves up the good stuff.