I havent seen anyone mention concrete. Its a pain in the butt to do, but material wise its cheap and can be stained in all sorts of interesting ways. You can also get any possible shape and profile you like.
Every time I see somebody ooh and ahh over granite countertops on HGTV, I laugh my ass off over what their reaction will be when it’s damaged 
We have basic old Formica that’s showing its age but otherwise is as durable as it was when it was first installed.
My next counters will be stainless. I love the look, plus I cook a lot, so for me they’re very practical.
A little less so in a very sunny kitchen!
Have you looked at recycled glass?
We went with Staron, which is like a Samsung version of Corian.
I tlooks lovely but we have the sparkly black which takes a lot of cleaning.
Also, we picked up a sample and attacked it with a knife to see how easily it scratched. The sample was fine. IRL however, it does tend to scratch rather readily but after a few scratches you don’t worry about it.
I was just looking at icestoneusa.com. Does anyone have any experience with it? I really like the look.
Great resource! That stuff is awesome.
Well…yeah, you’ve got a point there 
A good concrete countertop is going to be more expansive than most granites.
It’s very nice, but you have to make sure you compensate for the extra thickness. Most stone slabs are 3/4" or 2cm. Concrete usually needs to be about 1 3/4".
A lot of people will do base cabinets in granite, and if they have an island, do that in concrete. It looks great. Add some overhang, and make it look like it’s 3" thick. Very nice.
A co-worker had countertops made of 12" square granite tile, with a very small grout line. That might be a good alternative for someone who wants the look of granite for less money than a granite slab. (Obviously, this wouldn’t work for the OP, who didn’t like the look of granite.)
We did Corian (solid-surface material) when we remodeled our kitchen 11 years ago and I loved it. No seams (when they construct the slab for your kitchen, they seal the seams), you can get the backsplash bit manufactured as a single piece with the countertop so no bits that need to be caulked, it’s got a “softer” feel than granite, you can even get an integrated sink (we did not opt for that - wanted stainless). You can’t set super-hot stuff on it like you can with granite but we don’t need to do that all that often anyway and a trivet or hot pad is easy enough to come by.
I’d definitely get it again. We only lived with it for a year (wound up moving a year later).
I have these wood counters:
They are beautiful and feel warm and smooth to touch. Pretty inexpensive.
We installed a new IKEA kitchen earlier this year and went with butcherblock countertops. They are quite gorgeous, really - it provides a warm contrast to our white cabinets and dark flooring. It got scratched once and it was easy to just sand it smooth and re-apply the sealant to it. My only regret is not replacing our old formica years ago with it.
ETA - similar to what awldune linked to, but ours is the birch which is a lighter color than the beech in the link.
I was always under the impression that wooden countertops were breeding grounds for bacteria. What’s the dope on that?
We were told that they can be if not kept clean and treated, which basically involves coating them a couple of times a year with mineral oil (to keep them sealed and non-absorbant) and not letting spills sit a long time. My wife uses anti-bacterial kitchen spray to clean them too, I think.
Have you gone and looked at some granite slabs? There are SO MANY colors and variations of granite I would at least give it a shot to go check out a reputable stone yard in your area. Other options would be concrete (they do some nice things with broken glass added to the concrete) and there’s Durcon, Silestone, Caesarstone and others.
This site has some good info about the benefits of granite:
Lots to take in… good luck with your project.
Steve
Referred to the Mods for the advertising aspect.
I don’t see that they would be at all. As others have said, even wooden cutting boards don’t seem to be problematic, and most people with wooden counters don’t use them for chopping.
Our Ikea oak countertops, after lots of applications of tung oil in the early days and occasional coats since, are smooth, slightly glossy and virtually waterproof - any spills just bead on the surface and can be wiped off. For cleaning I just use a light spray of standard kitchen cleaner and a damp cloth.
I wouldn’t want to leave, say, a red wine spill sitting on the counter for hours, but then I imagine that could stain laminate too.
Reported.