Sausage Savior: Enjoy ‘Weekend Dog,’ German fare every day at Tesio

Weekend Dog (Photo by Shoji Kudaka)

If you go to Gate 2 Street near Kadena AB regularly, Tesio may already be on your radar.

This shop dedicated to specialty German-style sausages, has garnered much media attention since it opened in 2017.

The name Tesio comes from the Japanese word “teshio ni kakeru,” which means “take good care of.” Tesio has lived up to its name and has a good reputation thanks to its delicious German sausage.

The shop is popular for people on base as well as other foreigners in the area, according to Hinano Minei, a Tesio employee.

Minei said hot dogs, beer, ham and sausages are the popular items for their customers from Kadena.

I love sausage, especially authentic ones. But, for me, Tesio is about a 40-minute drive away from where I live, so I’ve just relied on the cheap sausages and hotdogs available at convenience stores. When I found out about Tesio’s Weekend Dog, a signature menu item consisting of a beef and mustard sausage topped with ketchup, relish, fried onion and mustard on a soft bun, even a lazy sausage enthusiast like me could not fight the urge to give it a try.

Tesio sits across Koza Music Town and its exterior makes it look more like a chic café than a sausage shop. Inside, the sleek interior holds a case displaying all the varieties of handmade sausages like Okinawa Citrus, Mozzarella, Cambodian Pepper and more.

The shop also stocks bottles of wine and olive oil, pastas, and other Italian food at a booth called “Tanto Tempo.”

Fortunately, despite being called Weekend Dog, this menu item is available every day of the week except Monday when the shop is closed.

The staff directed me to the Hinettery booth in the corner of the shop where patrons can order from the takeout menu.

According to the shop, this name was coined by combining the Japanese word “hineru (twist)” and military, which is a nod to making a sausage by twisting it and to the fact that the shop is in the neighborhood of a military base.

I ordered the Weekend Dog for 800 yen (about $5.50) and an Americano for 500 yen. My plan was to enjoy my meal in the shade at Koza Music Town, but the hot dog was too delectable to wait. The shop’s bench out front was the perfect spot to dig in.

With one bite of the sausage, the juiciness of the meat spread in my mouth. The toppings added a savory flavor that made it hard to stop chomping away. Even a foodie amateur like me could tell that there was thought behind the ingredients and flavors that went into creating the Weekend Dog.

According to Minei, the beef and mustard sausage used for the Weekend Dog is made using a recipe that earned gold at IFFA, an international trade fair for the meat industry.

As for the toppings, the spicy ketchup they use called “curry ketchup,” is an original sauce developed by the store. The hot dog’s mustard was also not a standard yellow mustard, but a “yellow mellow mustard,” which had a subtle flavor thanks to the rum and brown sugar the shop said they use to make it.

The attention to the delicious details is what takes the Weekend Dog well above the standard hot dog I’d find at a convenience store. So, my next trip to Tesio will definitely be very soon to try their other specialty offerings like “Okinawa Citrus Sausage” and “Koregusu Spicy Sausage.”