Grilla Grills Review 2026: Still Worth It Now That It's Not Independent?

Grilla Grills built its early reputation as the scrappy Michigan pellet-smoker brand that undercut Traeger on price without obviously cutting corners on build quality. That story is partly out of date. The company was acquired by American Outdoor Brands in 2022, its founding Holland, Michigan facility was closed that same year, and it now operates as one brand inside an 18-brand holding company. The pellet grills themselves still earn genuinely strong marks in independent testing, but the ownership change and a real, if small-sample, cluster of customer-service complaints are worth factoring into the decision.

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Grilla's hardware continues to earn real praise from independent BBQ reviewers who've actually cooked on it. The brand's identity as a small, founder-run company, however, is no longer accurate, and that's worth knowing before buying into the original marketing story.

Brand Snapshot

Grilla Grills was founded in 2012 in Holland, Michigan, by Dave Shidler and Mark Graham, growing out of a family business that had been building wood-pellet furnaces since roughly 2007. The original model was genuinely direct-to-consumer: the company sold through its own Shopify store, handled its own customer service including weekends, and kept a single year-round price with no regular discounting, a real point of brand pride in its early years. That changed in March 2022, when American Outdoor Brands (AOB), a roughly 18-brand outdoor and hunting products holding company, acquired Grilla for a reported $27 million. AOB closed Grilla's founding Holland, Michigan facility along with a Dallas, Texas facility that September, consolidating operations into AOB's headquarters in Columbia, Missouri, as part of a stated $100 million growth plan for the brand. As of AOB's most recent public earnings call, Grilla remained an active subsidiary with reportedly strong recent sales. Manufacturing is based overseas in China, with at least one independent source reporting Grilla's Silverbac comes from the same factory as budget competitor Z-Grills.

Product Deep Dive: The Current Pellet, Kamado, and Gas Lineup

The Silverbac 2.0 is Grilla's flagship pellet grill, starting at $1,099.99 and running up to $2,399.99 for the XL Built-In bundle with an all-terrain cart. The Mammoth is a vertical pellet smoker at $1,199.95, with a 40-pound hopper that one independent reviewer ran for 20-22 hours on a single load with pellets to spare. The portable Chimp 2.0 Tailgater ($719.99) targets tailgating and smaller cooks with double-wall insulation. Outside pellet smokers, the Kong ceramic kamado grill lists at $999.99 (commonly discounted to $699.99), and the Primate gas grill and griddle combo lists at $1,729.98 (commonly discounted to $1,049.99). The original Grilla "OG" model, at $1,119.99, appears to be winding down, several of its product pages now sell only replacement parts rather than the complete unit, suggesting it's being phased out in favor of the redesigned Silverbac line.

Grilla Grills Lineup — Quick Reference

Pros and Cons

Pros

•      HeyGrillHey ranked the Silverbac All-Terrain #2 "Also Great" in a tested top-5 pellet grill roundup, praising its stainless interior parts and 4-year warranty

•      The Silverbac's PID/Alpha temperature mode holds within 1-2 degrees, genuinely precise control per independent testing

•      DerrickRiches.com's direct comparison found the Silverbac better-built and better at holding heat and smoke than the similarly-priced Z-Grills 700

•      Double-wall insulation on the Chimp and Silverbac lines is a feature "very few pellet poopers" at this price point include, per one forum reviewer

•      The Mammoth's 40-pound hopper genuinely supports long overnight cooks without needing a mid-cook refill

Cons

•      No longer an independent company — acquired by American Outdoor Brands in 2022, with the founding Michigan facility since closed

•      BBB records show a recurring pattern of igniter failures and slow customer-service response, despite a low total complaint count

•      HeyGrillHey's own reviewer specifically criticized visible weld quality ("booger welds") on a $1,099 unit

•      The original Grilla OG model has documented temperature ceiling problems, struggling to exceed 325-350°F in multiple independent forum reports

•      Manufacturing is based overseas, reportedly in the same Chinese factory as budget rival Z-Grills, a tension against the brand's "direct, no middlemen" positioning

What Real Owners and Reviewers Are Saying

"Everything about this grill is built well, but I just can't get past the booger welds. At $1099, this shouldn't be a thing."  — HeyGrillHey.com, independent Silverbac All-Terrain review

"The Silverbac is a better-constructed grill and holds heat and smoke better than the Z-Grills 700."  — DerrickRiches.com, independent head-to-head comparison

"Dangerous design, unacceptable quality control, and unacceptable customer support."  — Brendan King, verified Trustpilot review

"They are double insulated, which very few pellet poopers are... Overall, I am happy with the purchase."  — Owner review, BBQ-Brethren forum, on the Chimp Tailgater

"The blower fan quit operating. I sent two emails without answers."  — Verified buyer, PissedConsumer.com review

How Grilla Grills Compares to the Competition

Grilla's real pitch, undercutting Traeger and Camp Chef while staying a clear step above budget brands like Z-Grills on build quality, still holds up in independent testing. What's changed is that "supporting an independent small brand" is no longer an accurate reason to choose Grilla over a bigger competitor, since it's now owned by the same kind of multi-brand holding company structure as many of its rivals.

Who Should (and Shouldn't) Buy Grilla Grills

Good Fit: The Value-Conscious Pellet Grill Shopper

If the goal is Traeger-adjacent build quality without Traeger's price tag, the Silverbac 2.0 remains a genuinely well-reviewed way to get there, independent testers consistently rank it above pure budget alternatives.

Good Fit: The Long-Cook Smoker

The Mammoth's hopper capacity and reported smoke performance make it a strong pick specifically for overnight briskets and pork butts where refilling pellets mid-cook is a real hassle.

Weak Fit: Anyone Specifically Buying for the "Small Independent Brand" Story

That story is no longer accurate. Grilla has been part of American Outdoor Brands since 2022, and its founding facility has been closed, worth knowing if brand independence was part of the appeal.

Weak Fit: Anyone Prioritizing a Guaranteed-Fast Support Response

BBB and PissedConsumer records show real, if limited-volume, complaints about slow customer service responses on hardware issues like igniter failures, a reasonable concern for a product with electronic components that will eventually need support.

Our Top Pick in the Lineup

For most buyers, the standard Silverbac 2.0 at $1,099.99 is the smartest entry point, it carries the strongest independent review record in the lineup and avoids the documented temperature-ceiling issues of the older OG model. Buyers planning regular long, overnight cooks should consider the Mammoth instead, where the larger hopper capacity solves a real practical problem the Silverbac doesn't address as directly.

Pricing and Where to Buy

Grilla sells primarily through its own site, grillagrills.com, with standard list-vs-sale discounting now common practice, a shift from the brand's original single-price philosophy. Given the real, documented customer-service complaint pattern, it's worth keeping all order confirmations and reading the specific warranty terms (Grilla's 4-year limited warranty is a genuine competitive plus) before a problem comes up rather than after.

What Buying From Grilla Looks Like Today

It's worth setting expectations accurately given the 2022 ownership change. The weekend customer service and founder-direct responsiveness that built Grilla's early reputation was specifically tied to the original Holland, Michigan team, and that team and facility no longer exist in the same form. What buyers get today is more comparable to any mid-sized outdoor-brand subsidiary: a standard support ticket system, a real but not instant response time based on BBB and Trustpilot complaint patterns, and a 4-year limited warranty that's genuinely competitive on paper but depends on American Outdoor Brands continuing to prioritize the Grilla line the way its most recent earnings call suggested. None of this is unique to Grilla, most grill brands at this price point have gone through similar consolidation, but it's a meaningfully different buying experience than the brand's founding story implies, and worth going in with accurate expectations about rather than the scrappy-startup framing that still shows up in some of its older marketing and press coverage.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Grilla Grills still an independent company?

No. American Outdoor Brands acquired Grilla Grills in March 2022 for a reported $27 million and has since closed the brand's founding Michigan facility, consolidating operations into AOB's Missouri headquarters.

Is Grilla Grills better than Traeger?

Independent reviewers generally place Grilla's Silverbac as a strong, slightly more affordable alternative to Traeger's Ironwood line, with HeyGrillHey ranking it #2 "Also Great" against tested competitors, though Traeger retains a larger accessory ecosystem and longer market history.

Where are Grilla Grills made?

Manufacturing is based overseas, with at least one independent reviewer reporting the Silverbac comes from the same Chinese factory as budget competitor Z-Grills, despite costing roughly $200 more at comparable sizes.

What's the most common complaint about Grilla Grills?

Customer service responsiveness shows up consistently across BBB, Trustpilot, and PissedConsumer reviews, specifically around igniter failures and slow email/phone response times, though total complaint volume remains low.

Does Grilla Grills still offer the same warranty it used to?

The 4-year limited warranty remains in place and is genuinely competitive against Traeger and Camp Chef's comparable coverage. What's changed is who's standing behind it, a subsidiary of a larger public holding company rather than the original founder-run team, which doesn't affect the warranty terms on paper but is worth knowing as context.

Is the Grilla Kong kamado a good alternative to Kamado Joe?

At $699.99 on sale, the Kong undercuts Kamado Joe's Classic II (which starts around $759) while offering the same core ceramic-kamado versatility, searing and low-and-slow smoking in one cooker. Kamado Joe has the longer, more established track record in this specific category, but Grilla's kamado hasn't drawn the kind of pointed complaints its pellet grills have.

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Final Verdict

Grilla's hardware still earns the kind of independent praise that built its early reputation, the Silverbac genuinely competes with grills costing hundreds of dollars more, and the Mammoth's hopper capacity is a real practical advantage for serious smokers. What's changed is the company behind the hardware: Grilla is now a subsidiary inside an 18-brand holding company, not the scrappy Michigan startup its marketing history still evokes, and a real, if small, pattern of customer-service complaints is worth planning around. Buy it for what the grill does today, with realistic expectations about the company supporting it. For a look at how Grilla's pricing and positioning stacks up against the rest of the grill market, see our Best Brands to Buy at BBQGuys guide