Best Gas Grills Under $500 – Tested & Reviewed

The Weber brand is well-known in the BBQ industry and for good reason. This is our favorite gas grill under $500. We had no problem getting a nice sear on steaks and burgers. Almost all the grills we reviewed were able to do this, some more evenly than others. Where the Weber Spirit II really excelled was in its ability to slow cook. Our racks of ribs came out tender and smoky, thanks to the even-heating, consistent aluminum design. It's sturdy, made from quality materials, and a grill that will get the job done and stand the test of time.

The Weber Spirit II is a heavy-duty grill for the price. It’s built from durable, solid cast-aluminum, and the lid itself is built of heavy-duty steel. When it comes to gas grills, there is no substitute for design and metal construction, and Weber seems to have taken that to heart with this model.

It’s nothing fancy, to be honest - just a solid, well-built and reliable grill. In fact, the Spirit II has less BTU output than several other grills in our roundup. But it still beats them all out simply in terms of build, performance, and heat retention.

Underneath the grate and above the burners, there are five stainless steel heat reflectors (flavorizers). These were key to the Weber’s performance at distributing heat evenly across the cooking. They also allowed for fat drippings to turn into luscious, greasy, flavorful smoke as they hit off them and vaporized. The grates are porcelain-enameled, which means they’re super-easy to clean and result in great browning and searing. They’re also reversible – with a thin side that is good for fish and shrimp and a wide “flat side” that makes larger, deeper sear marks. It holds its heat well and radiates it evenly – with the help of the Flavorizer bars – and helps sear and grill both burgers and juicy steaks well. It also holds heat well for smoking and slow-cooking – even with the large slit in the back where the lid folds up and down.

If you have a few more bucks to spend, check out the Spirit II E 310. This newer model of the Spirit II makes use of the new GS4 Grilling System, which boasts a cast aluminum build and a slide-out grease tray. Keep in mind, if you need additional grilling space but still want to go with the Weber Spirit II you can pick up the Weber Spirit II-310 for about an extra $100 giving you about an additional 80 sq. in. of cooking space an additional burner with similar features and performance. 

Another cool feature about the latest model of the Spirit II E 310 is that it comes with a spot to stick an IGrill3 digital thermometer. This is a much better option than using the cheap, unreliable bi-metal thermometers that come on most grills.

Either way you go, the Spirt II E 210 or Spirt II E 310 you won't be disappointed. There isn't a better grill gas grill we've used for the $500 - $600 price range. These models are a reliable performer that does it all, with a solid and durable build that should stand the test of time. Easily the best gas grill under $500 and our top pick in our BBQ gift lineup. 

I'll open up by saying, 13,000 BTUs per burner - across three burners for a total of 40,000 BTUs. Sounds impressive, but does it deliver? Yes it does. One of the main things we're looking for here is how well does a gas grill sear. In our testing we found that this grill reaches temps of 600°F+. 600°F+ when all three burners are set to low. When it came to searing a steak, we found this grill preformed as good as our top searing grill for less than $400 reaching temperatures upwards of 800°F.

Additionally, you don't have the problem with heat escaping out of the back of the grill before it has a chance to pass over the meat as it's designed with two top vents for more even heat distribution.  However, as expected with most grills in this price range, direct heat is not evenly distributed and concentrated directly in the center - even with the decent heat diffuser bars.

Getting this grill to preform “low-and-slow” is a little problematic as it runs so hot even on its lowest setting. As a result, you’ll need to turn your left or right burner to low and turn the other two off to preform an indirect cook at around 250°F – or just use your smoker if you have one and reserve the E3001 for grilling and searing.

The direct cooking surface is 390 sq. in. with an additional 180 sq. in. of space on the warming rack. The grill also features a 12,000 BTU side burner. Assembly of the grill was more or less straight forward. Design quality is reasonable for the price and you’ll want to pick up the grill cover as rusting will be an issue.   

In the end, this is where price meets performance to yield a grill that gets the job done at a price ideal for anyone in the market for a gas grill.

This is another well-performing, affordable grill. It’s hot, putting out 40,000 BTUs from its 3 burners, and can sear steaks and burgers rapidly – reaching 800°F when cranked all the way up. But more importantly, it’s excellent at even heating and distributing heat - thanks to Broil King’s Therma-Cast Aluminum cookbox, which has a stainless-steel insert. This results in a very even-heating cooking environment that’s great for slow-cooking in addition to high-heat searing.

Broil King’s Dual Tube Burners help; they’re large stainless-steel tubes with gas feed tubes running through them, creating a larger, more-distributed flame. Above them are the Flav-R-Wave heat tents, which help distribute that heat and let drippings turn into juicy vapors (like Weber’s Flavorizers).  The grates are heavy-duty cast iron for deep searing. We also really like the stainless side shelves, which give plenty of extra cooking room.

Build quality on some of the parts isn’t all that great, and some things – like the side shelf – bend or dent easily. Otherwise, this is another well-designed, durable, even-heating gas grill that gets real hot and can smoke up a good rack of ribs.

It’s also worth noting that BroilKing offers great warranties; the Signet is no exception, with a 10-year warranty on the burner, 2-year warranty on the parts, and lifetime warranty on the cookbox.

Let's talk for a second about the value of a grill that can move when you do? What's it worth to you at a monetary level and what are you willing to give up in the name of portability? As we found with Weber's new Traveler Portable Gas Grill, you may not have to sacrifice much in the way of performance for a practical and effective grill solution on the go - if you don't mind spending around $400 on 300 sq. in. of limited cooking space.

The Weber Traveler is impressive; a portable gas grill that features a little over 300 sq. in. of cooking surface (enough for about 12 regular size burgers). The design is much like their portable electric Q grill we reviewed here.

It has a 13,000 BTUs burner. During testing, this grill impressed us for something that can run off a small (1 lbs.) disposable propane tank (like the one you'd use for a lantern). The temperature range was 400°F on low ranging to 650°F on high. The last portable grill I owned that was designed to run on a portable propane tank had trouble reaching 500°F. Naturally, our initial concern with 13,000 BTUs with a 1 lbs. propane cylinder what how long we could expect a small tank to last - the answer? About 2.5 hours on low, 2 on medium, and 1 on high - not bad. If you want to run off a full-size propane tank, you'll need to buy an extension hose.

The other impressive aspect is how evenly heat was distributed directly from the surface; the burner runs evenly throughout the entire grilling surface. Steak seared beautifully when cranked up to high. Chicken cooked well on a low setting then set to medium for the last leg of the cook - heat remained trapped inside the grill for an efficient and even cook. One thing though, there isn't a whole lot of room for anything too tall like a turkey; even spatchcocked, you'd be hard pressed (literally) to close the lid.

This grills design for portability is outstanding. The compact design is second to none. Simply fold and unfold by placing your foot at the base and grabbing the handle - it couldn't be simpler. As far as quality goes, I have questions about durability over time if you're constantly toting it around but that's to be expected when it comes to something fairly lightweight that you can load and unload. First thing I'm going to do is swap out the plastic wheels for rubber ones.

Overall, the Weber Traveler Portable Gas Grill is an impressive and convenient solution for grilling on the go, outperforming any "portable" gas grill we've ever tested. You've heard it here first; this is the best portable gas grill on the market.

The Char-Griller E5030 is a hybrid gas and charcoal grill that offers the best of both worlds. With two fairly high-powered gas burners coming in at 12,000 BTUs each, this grill reached an average temperature of 505°F across the two burners. The grill includes charcoal grates also give you the option to cook using traditional methods. However, the offset grill design lacks a bit when trying to get even heat to disperse over meat evenly when cooking on the charcoal side. As for the gas side, the small cooking space and the dual controlled heat vents allow for heat to disperse evenly around the meat. The airflow design here is more ideal than the gas grills that contain a large gap running horizontally across the back (for the reasons stated above).

Both the cooking surfaces of the gas and charcoal compartments measure at about 18" x 15" (870 sq. in. cooking space in total including the warming rack) - enough to fit around 8 burgers on each side, or even a turkey on each side (if you remove the warming rack).

The Char-Griller E5030 has a few design design flaws, but we've seen worst for even at the $500+ mark. This grill will will rust quickly so you’ll need to pick up the grill cover. There's a lot to be said for an entry level priced grill that it gets hot enough for a true sear, and hey, if you want, you can toss in some charcoal if your in the mood for some good BBQ. Slow cooked pulled pork, while burgers and veggies are searing; all this for under $300 — that’s a win in our book.

The grill, has the typical uneven direct surface heating pattern with the back and center heating up about 35% more than the outside and front areas. However, when it comes to the searing we couldn’t deny its performance. Each burner runs at 10,000 BTUs for a total of 30,000 BTUs and it reached top performance at 675 °F giving us a great sear on the steak when placed directly in the center of the cooking surface. The other thing we liked is the dials for regulating the heat were more responsive then all the units we tried other than the Weber Spirt II.

Good assembly instructions, the best aside from Weber’s – actually written by someone who understands and speaks English (same can’t be said for all the grills we assembled). However, it still took about an hour and a half to assemble. The shelves are great, love that they fold away making the grill only 32” wide for storage.

The quality is fair, but lightweight.

There are some design flaws however; cleaning can be difficult due to the lack of a removable tray underneath, but with some patience it's doable. The oil drip collection tray is a small cup that fills up after a few sessions; it’s somewhat awkward to access and the bummer, is when it overflows it drips right onto the propane tank. Also, worth noting, the propane tank always isn’t super easy to remove as you’ll need to dig it out from the back of the grill.  The wheels are small, but it does roll around nicely with the wheels inset just enough to ensure decent balance when moving.

In the end the Kenmore 3-Burner grill offers value that can’t be denied with its high BTUs that seem to deliver no the 10,000 rating per burner, but the design flaws held us back from rating this one higher – however, if you can find it on sale for around $300 you’d be getting a steal.