7 the Best Gas and Charcoal Combo Grills of 2026

Oklahoma Joe’s is the only grill here with an offset firebox, and that changes what the charcoal half is for. You build a fire in the box, pull smoke through the chamber with the stack damper, and hold a pork shoulder at temperature for hours — then light three gas burners on the other side when you want dinner in a hurry.

At 1,031 square inches it is also the largest cooking area in this set, and the split is smart: 750 square inches in the main chamber plus a 281-square-inch grate in the firebox that puts wings or burgers directly over coals. We think that second grate is the sleeper feature, because it turns a smoker into a second grill when the crowd arrives. Dampers on both the firebox and the smokestack adjust, so temperature is a matter of air rather than guesswork.

The cost is footprint. At 68.9 inches wide and 35.6 inches deep, this is by far the biggest cart here, and it wants a long, level stretch of patio with room to work the firebox door. Give the build an afternoon and a second pair of hands. Then check that the firebox door seats tightly: smoke and heat escaping around it will have you chasing the dampers all afternoon.

Compared with our top pick, you trade a narrower, simpler cart for the widest one here, 161 more square inches, and real smoking control. If your charcoal cooking is low and slow rather than hot and fast, that trade is easy to make.

Two hoods on one cart is the detail that separates the MFSTUDIO from the other 690-square-inch grills here. Lift the gas hood to sauce a steak and the coals under the other lid never notice — no rush of cool air, no temperature drop to chase. On a single-lid combo, checking one side costs you heat on the other.

Under those lids: three stainless burners with 37,000 BTU between them, a 520-square-inch primary grate of porcelain-enameled cast iron, a 170-square-inch warming rack, and a side burner for sauces and sides. Thermometers sit in both hoods, so you can read each zone without lifting anything. The charcoal tray adjusts for height, which does more for weeknight charcoal than any vent.

We rate it near the top of this set on zone control, and the adjustable tray is the other thing we keep coming back to: dropped low with the vents trimmed, a modest coal bed holds without constant feeding, which is what makes charcoal practical on a work night rather than a weekend project. The cart rolls on two swivel casters and two fixed wheels at 115 pounds, so it moves when you want it to and stays put when you don’t.

The twin-hood advantage only pays if you genuinely cook on both sides at once. If you tend to pick one fuel per meal, the second hood is steel you’re paying for and cleaning around. That is the honest boundary on this one: the best dual-zone setup here for cooks who use both, and more grill than a one-fuel-at-a-time cook needs.

At 32.8 inches wide and 51 pounds, the Bistro Pro is the only grill on this list you can carry onto a balcony and tuck against a railing. The cooking surface is 240 square inches, there is a single gas burner, and Char-Broil rates the heat up to 750°F — enough for a proper sear on a steak or a smash burger.

Its approach to two fuels differs from everything else here. There are no side-by-side zones: you lay charcoal on a rack built into the gas grate and light it, and the whole surface becomes a coal grill. We think that is the right call for a small patio, since you get real charcoal flavor without a second firebox taking up floor space — and the wrong call for a crowd, because you cannot sear on gas while the coals come up.

Control is where it takes practice. One burner and coals sitting close under the grate is a coarse instrument, and the low end is the hard part: it wants to run hot, so thin cuts, fish, and vegetables need watching and moving. Size is the other honest limit — 240 square inches is a two-to-four-person surface, enough for six steaks and not much else. Feeding eight means stepping up to a 690 or an 870.

What it has that the bigger carts don’t is a two-year warranty on the lid and firebox, longer than the one-year coverage stated on several grills here. On a grill this size, that is most of the value: it is a starter grill you can keep on a balcony, not a rig you’ll hand down.

Three grills in this set share a 61-inch cart, a 690-square-inch cooking surface, and porcelain-enameled cast iron grates. The Sophia & William is the least expensive of the three, which makes it the value play among the full-size three-burner combos — the same footprint and the same primary area for less.

The layout is conventional and sensible: a 520-square-inch primary grate, a 170-square-inch warming rack above it, three main burners plus a side burner, a push-out ash tray for the charcoal side, and a slide-out grease tray. Locking casters keep it put, the handles are stainless, and the side burner is the feature we reached for most — a place to reduce a sauce or boil corn without walking back to the kitchen.

Where it earns less confidence is the sheet metal. Panels and door frames can arrive bent or warped, and the cart is not as stiff as the pricier ones here, which is part of why it costs less. None of that showed up in how it cooked, but it is the difference between a grill that looks finished and one that looks assembled.

Cooking itself holds up. Heat spreads evenly across the cast iron, the gas side sears properly, and the charcoal side does what charcoal should. If you want the big three-burner cart and would rather spend the difference on meat, this is a reasonable buy — provided a slightly imperfect cart doesn’t bother you every time you walk past it.

The gas side of the Captiva is the part that impressed us: three burners that come up to heat quickly, spread it evenly across the cast iron, and sear without an obvious hot spot in the middle of the grate. With 520 square inches of primary grate and a 170-square-inch warming rack, a cookout for a dozen doesn’t require Tetris.

The charcoal side does the flavor work, and the cleanup design is better than average: a slide-out ash tray under the coal bed and a slanted grease tray that sends drippings to one corner instead of pooling across the bottom. The side burner earns its keep too — that is where the corn and the sauce went while both grates stayed full.

The steel is what gives us pause. This cart can rust inside within a year — interior panels, the charcoal side, the ledges — and a finish is the one thing you cannot fix later. Our advice is not to skip the grill but to plan around it: a cover, a dry spot, and a look at the seams each spring. Assembly is the other place to set aside time, because the directions leave gaps that a second read and a parts count will close.

The clearest comparison is the MFSTUDIO, which shares this 61-by-23-inch footprint, the same 690 square inches, and similar money. What separates them is the lids — two independent hoods there, one big one here — and how much you’re willing to gamble on the finish. For cooking and capacity alone, this is a capable, comfortable grill.

The ZH3005 divides its 823 square inches almost evenly: 333 on the gas side, 333 on the charcoal side, the rest warming rack. No other two-zone combo here splits the fuels that cleanly, and none of them costs less. That is a strong opening argument for a first combo grill — the caveats arrive afterward.

The spec sheet is generous for the money: two 12,000 BTU stainless main burners, a 10,000 BTU side burner, piezo ignition, a right-hand prep shelf, and thermometers in both lids. The charcoal side is the more interesting half — the pan adjusts for height, and a smokestack and side vent let you move the heat and choke the air instead of just adding more briquettes.

The gas side is the risk. Burners and igniters that won’t light, or quit early, are the weak point, and paint peeling after a season is the other. Then there is assembly: picture-only directions, hardware that doesn’t always line up, and a QR code that leads nowhere useful. Set aside an afternoon, lay the parts out, and count the screws before you start.

For a tight budget and a spot out of the weather, that is still a lot of cooking surface — nearly three times the primary area of the compact Char-Broil, with a charcoal bed of its own. Test both burners and inspect the paint in the first week, while the warranty still has room in it.