For nearly three decades, the Avitia family has run El Horseshoe right under the noses of the Phoenix fooderati, housed in a brightly muraled building on an industrial stretch of Buckeye Road near downtown Phoenix. The Avitias may not bill their restaurant as such, but this homey little joint is the epitome of the American diner — a no-frills, working-class breakfast and lunch joint serving classic dishes with a focus on simple, honest flavor and not a lick of pretense. Those classics include dishes such as supple cheese-stuffed chiles rellenos doused with bright tomato sauce; silky chunks of beef tongue plied with a fragrant, complex mole; tender-crisp chilaquiles made from torn tortillas pan-fried to order; and a steaming hot bowl of caldo de res, gelatin-rich, loaded with vegetables and served with thick, scalding hot fresh tortillas. The flavors are familiar, but rarely are they so honest and vibrant. In a town that reveres its homey Sonoran cooking, El Horseshoe remains an underappreciated gem.