Presidio of San Francisco

Public grills in North America and Europe are usually charcoal: a steel firebox on a post, with a grate you cannot adjust and no fuel provided. You bring charcoal, a lighter, tongs and a way to carry the ashes out.

They rust, they warp, and the grate is often missing. Bring a small grill grate of your own if you are cooking anything that could fall through, and give yourself forty-five minutes for coals to be ready rather than the twenty a chimney starter promises in a windless yard.

Check whether open flames are permitted before you go. Fire bans in dry months apply to charcoal in a park exactly as they do to a campfire, and the sign at the gate is the authority, not the map.