CLARKSVILLE, TN (CLARKSVILLE NOW) – Five years after shutting down operations, Chi-Town Hot Dogs is planning a comeback, while honoring the memory of one of their founders – Donna Johnson.
Chi-Town Hot Dogs, located on Riverside Drive, shut down in 2021 after Donna Johnson was diagnosed with cancer, which led to her death that November. Now, in 2026, Donna’s husband Dan Johnson and the couple’s longtime neighbor Elizabeth Self are working toward reopening Chi-Town as business partners.
Dream of bringing Chicago dogs to Clarksville
The idea of a Chicago-style hot dog stand was a natural for the Johnsons, who moved here from the Windy City in 1993.
“We had a dream – and maybe a little bit of Chicago stubbornness too. After a lot of heavy consideration, we decided to open a small hot dog stand called Chi-Town,” Dan Johnson told Clarksville Now. “At the time, nobody around here was really doing Chicago-style hot dogs, brats, Italian beefs, and the kind of food we grew up loving. We knew we were taking a chance, but we also knew one thing for certain: If we were going to do it, we were going to do it right.”…