Search “grilla grills review” and most results still describe a scrappy independent grill maker out of Holland, Michigan. That company hasn’t existed in its original form since 2022 — here’s what Grilla actually costs today, what real owners report, and who’s been running the show for the past four years.
Quick Answer
Grilla Grills’ Silverbac 2.0 ($1,099.99) is a genuinely well-built mid-tier pellet grill — 692 sq in of cook space (507 sq in main grate plus a 185 sq in upper rack), a 33 lb hopper, 12-gauge steel construction, and Grilla’s Alpha Connect 2.0 WiFi controller, backed by a 4-year limited warranty. The portable Chimp 2.0 Tailgater ($719.99, 460 sq in) covers the budget/tailgate tier. What’s changed since Grilla built its reputation as a scrappy Michigan startup: American Outdoor Brands (NASDAQ: AOUT) bought the company for $27 million in cash in 2022 and consolidated production into a single Columbia, Missouri facility — the grills are still solid, but “small independent company” hasn’t been accurate for four years.
Grilla lineup at a glance
| Model | Cook space | Hopper | Temp range | Warranty | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chimp 2.0 Tailgater | 460 sq in | 15 lb | 180-500°F | Limited | $719.99 |
| Silverbac 2.0 | 692 sq in | 33 lb | 180-500°F | 4 years | $1,099.99 |
| Silverbac 2.0 w/ All-Terrain Cart | 692 sq in | 33 lb | 180-500°F | 4 years | $1,299.99 |
| Silverbac 2.0 XL | ~1,644 sq in (3 grates) | 33 lb | 180-500°F | 4 years | $1,799.99 |
Who actually owns Grilla Grills
Grilla built its early reputation on a direct-to-consumer, no-middleman pitch out of Holland, Michigan — cut the retail markup, sell heavier steel for the price, ship straight to the buyer’s driveway. That pitch is still technically true, but the company behind it changed in 2022, when American Outdoor Brands acquired Grilla Grills for $27 million in cash, according to AOB’s own press release announcing the deal. AOB then consolidated Grilla’s Holland, Michigan assembly alongside two other facilities — Dallas, Texas and Wilsonville, Oregon — into a single site in Columbia, Missouri, completed by mid-November 2022, per AOB’s Executive VP and CFO. Grilla no longer has a Michigan manufacturing footprint at all, even though “Michigan-built” language still circulates in older reviews and forum threads.
Grilla Silverbac 2.0
- 507 sq in main grate plus a 185 sq in upper warming rack, per Grilla's own product specs — enough for roughly 6 whole chickens in one cook.
- 12-gauge steel body with a powder-coated, weather-resistant finish; several independent reviewers describe it as noticeably heavier-built than competitors near its price.
- Alpha Connect 2.0 WiFi controller adds remote temp monitoring, timers, and a "Pro Smoke" mode aimed at boosting smoke output at lower temperatures — though some owner reviews report thinner-than-expected smoke across multiple pellet brands even with it engaged.
- 33 lb hopper burns roughly 1 lb of pellets per hour at a 250°F average cook temp, per Grilla's spec sheet — around 30 hours of runtime on a full hopper.
Get your pellet grill fired up this weekend — try Amazon Prime free for 30 days for fast shipping on rubs, pellets, and accessories while you wait on the grill itself.
None of this makes the current Silverbac 2.0 a worse grill than the one Grilla built its name on — the specs (12-gauge steel, 692 sq in, 4-year warranty) are unchanged, and AOB’s own reporting says Grilla posted year-over-year sales growth with roughly half of customers being repeat buyers even after the ownership change. But buyers who specifically valued the “small independent Michigan company” story as part of the pitch should know that story ended in 2022 — Grilla is now one brand inside a public company’s portfolio, assembled and shipped out of Missouri like every other AOB product line.
Where it falls short
Real owner reviews flag two recurring issues. First, smoke output: multiple independent reviews cite owners who found the Silverbac produces less visible smoke than expected, even in Pro Smoke mode and across different pellet brands — not a universal complaint, but common enough to show up repeatedly in review roundups. Second, minor quality-control misses on hardware, like a misaligned caster mounting nut reported in at least one detailed owner review — the kind of assembly defect any manufacturer occasionally ships, but worth inspecting on arrival. On the buying-experience side, Grilla remains largely direct-to-consumer: two physical showrooms (Holland, MI and Dallas, TX) plus online, versus Traeger or Pit Boss units you can walk up to at Costco or Home Depot before buying.
Grilla vs. the field
| Grill | Cook space | Steel gauge | Warranty | Starting price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grilla Silverbac 2.0 | 692 sq in | 12-gauge | 4 years | $1,099.99 |
| Recteq RT-590 | 590 sq in | Heavy-gauge stainless | 6 years | $899.99 |
| Traeger Ironwood | 616 sq in | Steel body | 10 years | $1,799.99 |
| Yoder YS480s | 480-800 sq in | 10-gauge carbon steel | 10 yr (body) | $2,249 |
For buyers who want the longest warranty in the category and don’t mind paying retail markup, this site’s best pellet grill brands guide ranks Traeger and Recteq ahead of niche direct-to-consumer options like Grilla. Buyers specifically comparing heavy-steel, direct-sale brands should also read the Yoder Smokers review — Yoder’s 10-gauge steel and 10-year body warranty sit a tier above Grilla on both metrics, at roughly double the price. And if premium build quality with a shorter warranty is the tradeoff you’re weighing, the Cookshack review covers another direct-sale brand with a 2-year warranty and a very different feature focus (charbroiler searing rather than steel mass).
Who should buy a Grilla
- Buy the Silverbac 2.0 if: you want heavier steel and more cook space than a Recteq RT-590 at a similar price, and a 4-year warranty is enough coverage for you.
- Buy the Chimp 2.0 if: you need a portable, fold-up grill for tailgating or a small patio and don’t need 500+ sq in of cook space.
- Skip it if: warranty length is your top priority — Traeger’s 10 years and Recteq’s 6 years both beat Grilla’s 4, or if you want to physically inspect a grill at a big-box store before buying.
- Know before you buy: Grilla has been owned by American Outdoor Brands since 2022 and assembled out of Columbia, Missouri, not Holland, Michigan — the “small independent brand” pitch some older reviews repeat is outdated.
The verdict
Grilla Grills still makes a genuinely competitive mid-tier pellet grill — the Silverbac 2.0’s 12-gauge steel, 692 sq in of cook space, and $1,099.99 price hold up well against Recteq and Traeger on a specs-per-dollar basis. What’s changed is who’s behind the label: since American Outdoor Brands’ 2022 acquisition, Grilla is a brand inside a public company’s portfolio, built in Missouri, not the scrappy Michigan startup its origin story still gets credited for. That’s not a reason to avoid the grill — it’s a reason to buy it for what it actually is today, not the story attached to it.