There is not an impressive restaurant selection near Kartchner Caverns and in Sierra Vista, but there is one little place that is worth recommending, and it has a bit of an interesting history related to the nearby caverns. The Horseshoe Café (154 E. 4th St., Benson, 520/586-3303, daily 11 a.m.–9 p.m., $5–15) serves pretty good steaks, burgers, and Mexican favorites—including big, sloppy and tasty burritos. It’s been around for something like 70 years and is right on Benson’s main drag; it’s decorated with all kinds of portraits of horses and a few antiques, but I can see how some people might consider it a borderline dive.

At any rate, the food is filling and tastes good. Author Neil Miller, in his recent history of the caverns, reports that during the many years that Gary Tenen and Randy Tufts kept their discovery a secret, every time they would visit their secret cave they’d invariably stop at the Horseshoe for a bite to eat before returning to Tucson. For some reason, nobody in the restaurant seemed to think it was strange that the two spelunkers always came in covered in mud.