About us

Our story begins in the heart of gold country, high in the Sierra Nevada Mountains, in the majestic town of South Lake Tahoe, CA. This is where Ma and Pa Ceko decided to settle and have a family after years of living in the congested concrete jungle known as Los Angeles, CA.

Ma, a typical lady of the day, ran the house and groomed two small children: Nathan and Nicholas. Pa, a very hardworking man, found his gold working for the local fire department where he spent a better part of thirty years working as a fireman, the last ten as the Fire Chief. Eventually retiring, Pa set his sights on the world, in search of gold elsewhere. He travelled the Seven Sea's winding up on the Caribbean Island of the Dominican Republic, where he now enjoys his days playing tennis and kite surfing.

Meanwhile, Ma ended up finding her riches in the great country of San Diego by growing avocados and tending her beloved grandson, Ryland Asher. The Ceko boys grew up, each of them, through trials and tribulations, went in search for their own niches. Brother "Nate", never leaving the high country, went on to work as a television editor for an outdoor television station, while brother "Nick" set his sights on a new adventure leaving the comfort of the mountains travelling south where he found the "Discovery Valley".

While in San Marcos, "Nick" getting used to surroundings, started dating a new gal, attending school, and working at a great American steakhouse called the Old California Mining Company. He always maintained that the restaurant job was only "temporary" and that "this cowboy was destined for better things". As the years passed, Nick eventually married that gal, bought a home, and had a child, all here in his adopted home of San Marcos. It only made sense that when he found out that restaurant that he loved and worked at for the past seven years went up for sale, that he did everything in his power to become that new owner. After some negotiating with Pa Ceko, the two worked out a deal making each of them equal partners in the ownership of the Old California Mining Company.

Mission Statement

It is our endeavor to provide each patron the utmost satisfaction by using only quality foods, served by the most friendly and efficient employees, which would guarantee they would return again and again.