You will find some members of "team soapstone" on this forum, including me. With a honed finish it feels and looks great. Impervious to heat, cold, does not stain with spills, or fade with exposure to elements.

Ours is a leathered granite.

S o a p s t o n e. Get a hard variety, like Belvedere, (which we have, going on 7 years), and upkeep will be a breeze. Impervious to anything and everything. Will never fade. Does not react negatively to heat or cold, i.e., no thermal cracking.

Contact M. Teixeira, the largest soapstone dealer/fabricator in the US. That link should take you to their outdoor kitchens page.

Edited to add: Explore Teixeira’s site. They have several locations in the US, and some partner locations. They also will fabricate and ship anywhere.

In my previous house I installed one of the beige/brown/gold polished granites on our outdoor BBQ area. It was completely exposed and faced west and south, so got a lot of hot So. CA sun. No issues with the granite. I usually gave it a good cleaning twice per year or when we had guests coming over.

In the house we built last year I used Taj Mahal quartzite in the outdoor kitchen, but it is in a fully roofed and screened lanai, so not as exposed. Too soon to tell how it will wear long term!

I am a fabricator. Granite or soapstone are my preferred options; honed granite if you don't like the polished look. If you select a black granite make sure it's not one that has been dyed.

Thanks everyone for your input. Does anyone have experience using bluestone?

We also used granite- leathered steel grey - one of the cheaper stones in the yard and it is holding up very well, impervious to the elements. I think bluestone would show grease and be much more difficult to clean. I have not had it as a counter surface but rather as an outdoor patio floor and anytime something was spilled on it there was a period of time before the stain would fade away despite hosing it down.

I like the granite top. Thanks for the photo!

Jumping in late here - we are doing an outdoor countertop/grill in northern CA, which will be exposed to sun for most of the day. Our architect recommended petit granite, which from what I can tell is the same as bluestone. I found this helpful article: https://www.stonedepot.com.au/blog/how-to-choose-between-bluestone-and-granite/

I am leaning toward the bluestone but slightly worried about staining. We are frequent and messy cooks. Would welcome any additional thoughts.

Now I'm reading that petit granite = Belgian bluestone = limestone. But "regular" bluestone = something else...?

The article you linked talks about the porosity of bluestone, if you are frequent and messy cooks I think granite would be a much better choice. Honed or leathered if you don't like the shiny look. Ours cleans up with soap, water, bleach, simple green, etc. And it has never been sealed. Very easy care.

we used a brick quarry tile in our cooking zone, no issues

DH made a concrete counter for frig/storage area

both have held up great, concrete counter fully exposed to sun/shade/rain/snow, going on 7 years.

quarry tile, older, no issues, does have a 'roof' but fully exposed on all sides.

these are way more cheaper than granite if u can DIY., which was our motivation.

We just ordered our top, and I will post photos after the project is done, hopefully in a few weeks. We decided on a granite called steel grey and it’s leathered so not shiny.

Exactly what I have on mine. One of the cheaper granites too.

That’s funny because, even tho you put the name in your earlier post, I didn’t remember that. It was just what we liked when we went to the stone store.

we have leathered steel gray in our bedroom.. for the dresser top and nightstands, i love it!!