In 1959, mickey sangiacomo was running a car lot called "patriot autos," when his close friend jimmy faruggia (owner of jimmy's red hots) expressed an intention to open a new hot dog stand right next door.  though mickey suspected that jimmy had lost his marbles, he soon found himself eyeing the shell of a defunct A&W restaurant sitting on a used car lot in Bellwood.  jimmy suggested he buy it and convert it into a hot dog stand, an idea that appealed strongly to mickey's wife, ann.  jimmy and ann (who instantly become the moving force behind the concept) convinced mickey to realize the vision.  ann named the joint "Mickey's Drive-In" and recruited her teenage kids to help run the show.  naturally, She benefited under the tutelage of Jimmy Faruggia, whose legendary red hots are still the talk of humboldt park.

In the beginning, a metal can served as the cash register, and a hot dog, fries, and drink would set you back just 37 cents.  The sangiacomo family still runs the business today, and mickey's drive-in, like jimmy's red hots, is one of just 22 restaurants inducted into the vienna beef hall-of-fame.  strangely, they've also had success as matchmakers: They know of 21 married couples who met at mickey's drive-in.  on their 30th anniversary, they sold hot dogs at their original price and moved 14,000 franks in a single day, during which they had a line that stretched a block-and-a-half long for eleven straight hours.

Mickey and Ann's daughter, Annette, persuaded her husband to open a "Mickey's" in Villa Park in 1979, but they sold out to their longtime business manager, Dave Bruder, in 2011.