Two things send people looking for a Grilla Chimp review, and they pull in opposite directions.

The first is the hopper. At 15 lb it is nearly double what most portable pellet grills carry, which means you can run a brisket overnight without getting up to refill. That is a genuinely rare spec in this size class.

The second is suspicion. Search the brand and you hit a Better Business Bureau profile flagged Out of business, a Michigan phone number on a Missouri company, and a Trustpilot page with four reviews and a 3.1 score. None of that inspires confidence before spending $719.99.

So this review does both jobs. It answers whether Grilla and the Chimp are legitimate, with sources, and it answers whether the Chimp is actually the right portable pellet grill for you, which is a separate question with a more complicated answer.

Quick verdict

Is Grilla Grills Chimp legit? Yes, and here is the evidence

This question comes up for good reasons, so let us deal with each one honestly rather than waving it away.

The company is real and currently trading

1. American Outdoor Brands, Inc. (NASDAQ: AOUT) acquired substantially all the assets of Grilla Grills for $27 million cash, around $24 million net of future tax benefits. Signed 10 March 2022, completed 14 March 2022. This is in AOB's own press release filed with the SEC, not a blog claim
2. As of 25 June 2026, Grilla is still a named live AOB brand, listed alongside Bog, Bubba, Caldwell, Crimson Trace and Frankford Arsenal in AOB's Q4 and FY2026 reporting. The only brand impairment disclosed in that period was for a different brand entirely
3. grillagrills.com is a functioning store with a live cart, Affirm financing, and the Chimp showing Expected to ship in 1 to 2 business days
4. Replacement parts are in stock and shipping, including the Chimp's Alpha Smoke control board at $155.99, wheels at $14.99, legs with axle at $39.99, handle at $9.99 and lid deflector at $9.99

Why it looks suspicious anyway, point by point

One practical buying rule. We searched specifically for counterfeit Grilla sites, fake storefronts, dropship sellers using the brand name and non-delivery patterns, and found none. But the Chimp has essentially no third-party retail footprint. Grilla sells direct. So any site other than grillagrills.com offering a discounted Chimp should be treated as suspect.

A related confusion worth knowing about: searching Chimp tailgater surfaces an unrelated Grill Time 12.5 inch Tailgater GT charcoal grill at $99.99 in Ace Hardware. Different product, different company, massively different price.

Chimp 2.0 specs

A note on those dimensions. Grilla's own product page publishes two conflicting sets, 41 x 38 x 20 in the specification block and 39 x 40 x 22 under Exterior. The same page also says 30 minutes assembly in the specs and 15 minutes in the FAQ. Measure your truck bed against the larger figures to be safe.

What comes in the box

From the owner's manual carton list, which is the most reliable source:

1. Pre-assembled grill body
2. Two stainless cooking grates, the main 340 sq in grate plus the 120 sq in upper rack. So the full 460 sq in is achievable out of the box
3. Flame deflector, drip pan, drip grease can holder
4. Two meat probes, which is the main upgrade over the discontinued 1.0's single probe
5. Stainless vent cover, cord wrap, stainless burn grate, fire pot heat deflector
6. Front metal plate with tabs for hanging tongs and spatula
7. Four snap-lock folding legs with wheels on the hopper side
8. Assembly hardware

Not included: the grill cover at $59.99, the custom flip sear grate, the front shelf, pellets, inverter and power station. Note the additional grate upsell on the product page is the sear grate, not the upper rack, which you already have.

The original Chimp 1.0 is discontinued

Grilla's old product page carries a literal DISCONTINUED badge and states the original has been upgraded to the Chimp 2.0. If you find a 1.0 cheap somewhere, the differences owners report are: a second meat probe on the 2.0, accessories that were previously separate now built in, easier leg retraction, a pellet dump feature, and a controller that now sits angled upward rather than flush with the hopper.

One owner raised an unresolved concern about that angled controller sitting more in the path of rain. Nobody has answered it.

The 120V problem, and why it matters more than anything else

This is the single most important thing in this review. The Chimp is marketed as a tailgater. It requires a 120V mains outlet. There is no 12V DC input and it is not dual voltage.

Grilla's own spec says standard household three-prong outlet, 120 Volt 50/60Hz. The owner's manual says 110 Volt AC grounded outlet. That is unambiguous.

Grilla sells two first-party workarounds:

So the real off-grid cost is $781.98 with the inverter plus whatever a 12V battery costs you, or $1,079.98 with the Power Station. Grilla does sell a Power Station bundle at $989.98, saving $90.

Two things Grilla has not explained

1. Grilla publishes no wattage or amperage figure for the Chimp anywhere. Not on the product page, not in the owner's manual, not in the Alpha Connect manual. So you cannot confirm the inverter is adequately sized for the igniter startup draw
2. The recommended inverter is rated 400W but the Power Station is rated 300W continuous, which Grilla has not reconciled. For context, comparable pellet grills publish 250W (Traeger Ranger and Tailgater) and around 300W startup dropping to 50W cooking (recteq Road Warrior). So 300W is plausible but tight

The Power Station's watt-hour capacity is not published either. A genuine 10 hours at 300W would mean roughly 3,000Wh, which would be an extremely large and expensive battery for $359.99. The 10 hour figure is almost certainly 10 hours at a pellet grill's low average draw, not at full output. Treat it as marketing until Grilla publishes a Wh number.

The practical answer: if portable to you means a campsite with hookups, an RV, a cabin, a tailgate lot with a generator, or a patio, the Chimp is fine. If it means a beach, a field, a boat ramp or a lot with no power, the Chimp is the wrong grill at roughly twice the price of ones that run natively on 12V.

Is it actually portable?

Tailgate portable, not carry portable. At 90 lb it is the heaviest unit in the portable pellet class by a wide margin.

The mechanism itself is well done. Four snap-lock folding legs with push-button metal detents, two plain legs at the front and two wheel legs on the hopper side. Folded, metal casters let it sit on a pickup bed or a table. The grate, drip pan and hopper latch are all secured against bouncing in transit, which is a thoughtful touch.

But Grilla's own manual recommends at least two people for assembly, and a hands-on reviewer described loading and unloading as easy with the help of a friend. One owner on a portable pellet grill forum thread said directly that the Chimp being about 20 lb heavier than the GMG Trek is why it lost his purchase.

If one person lifts it, buy something else. If it goes in a truck bed with a second pair of hands, 90 lb is a fair price for stainless and insulation.

How it actually cooks

Pellet consumption and the hopper advantage

One hands-on test ran the 15 lb hopper for roughly 9 to 10 hours total runtime with around 4 to 5 lb of pellets left, which works out to roughly 1 lb per hour. Grilla's own claim is 10 to 15 hours at around 250F on one hopper, so the measured figure sits at the bottom of that range.

Even at the bottom of the range, this is the Chimp's strongest card. A 15 lb hopper is nearly double the Traeger Ranger and Tailgater at 8 lb, and more than double the Pit Boss at 7 lb. It is the only portable here that comfortably takes a brisket or a pork butt through without a refill.

Temperature performance, honestly mixed

The positive reports are real. One reviewer cooked on it around two dozen times and found PID mode held the setpoint closely, including a 425F pizza bake, with recovery after opening the lid or adding cold meat faster than comparable pellet units he had tested. Another reported it performed well across a 500F reverse sear, 400F bacon, 250F ribs and 450F wings.

The negative report is also real and worth knowing. One owner measured 290F on the built-in probe and 280F on an independent Fireboard against a 220F setpoint, a roughly 70F overshoot, persisting at the minimum 5% feed rate in PID mode.

Grilla support's initial response was that he was in the break in period and should get at least two dozen cooks on it. Another forum member called that out as unacceptable for a 70F gap. The thread did resolve, with the owner later editing his post to say actual temps were now very in line with the setpoint after 10 tests, but the cause was never identified. A separate member in the same thread reported a Grilla technician calibrating his controller to within about 10F, which suggests calibration is the real fix.

Meat probe accuracy got a complaint in the same thread too, with one owner reporting the Chimp's probe tracking 20 to 50 degrees off a ThermoWorks reference.

One serious documented incident, September 2026

We are including this because it is recent, detailed and almost certainly not in competing reviews. Treat it as one documented incident, not a pattern. But it would be dishonest to leave it out.

An owner reported a two-stage failure. First the RTD, the chamber temperature sensor: the display read 150F while the controller did not register this and kept feeding pellets. Grilla told him to clean the RTD, then shipped a replacement free of charge.

Later, cooking a leg of lamb at a 225F setpoint, an independent probe alarmed at 450F while the Grilla app still read 170F. A grease fire followed.

Grilla's response: initially said control board failure was unlikely, then after the fire a rep suggested the auger feed relay and wanted to troubleshoot further, by which point the owner had already discharged extinguisher powder inside the grill. The rep offered to look into a discounted replacement, with terms never confirmed. The owner's closing line: without someone looking at the metal, I would be too paranoid to use it even if I replaced the control board.

The same rep also stated that Grilla's unattended-operation WiFi warnings were added a few years ago for liability and insurance reasons rather than in response to specific incidents.

What to take from it: do not run any pellet grill fully unattended, keep an independent probe in the cook, and keep the drip tray clean. That is sensible practice on every brand, and this incident is a reminder rather than a verdict.

The WiFi problem, and the fix nobody mentions

Owner complaints about Grilla's app and WiFi are common. One Chimp owner could only get a stable connection by running a MiFi hotspot. Another said the app drops out every once in a while. A 1.0 owner called the Bluetooth kind of buggy.

Here is the root cause, from Grilla's own Alpha Connect manual: the grill is 2.4 GHz only. Grilla's exact words: if your router is a dual band router and your device is connected to the 5GHz signal it will not work. Setup also requires a Bluetooth-enabled phone on the same network.

That explains most of the WiFi complaints you will read. If your router broadcasts a combined 2.4 and 5 GHz network under one name, you may need to split the bands or create a dedicated 2.4 GHz SSID for the grill. If your home network is 5 GHz only, you are paying a premium for connectivity you cannot use.

Build quality and the one repeatable complaint

Stainless, double-wall insulated, with a stainless burn grate and fire pot deflector. Third-party opinion in owner forums rates the build above competitors at the price.

The one complaint that recurs: powder coating flaking off the bottom of the legs with rust starting, reported on a roughly 2.5 year old unit, with the owner noting his cover does not reach that low.

Worth flagging against the warranty, because Grilla's warranty explicitly excludes corrosion. So leg rust is not a covered claim. If you buy, the $59.99 cover is worth it and so is keeping the legs dry.

On the other side, long-term reports are decent. One owner reported roughly five years without any problems. Another, an owner since 2020, said he liked it a lot, was satisfied with the purchase, had run it in the rain with no problems, found it easy to work on, and self-installed the wireless controller upgrade when it became available.

The 2-year warranty carve-out

This is genuinely under-covered and it is the most reasonable red flag on the list.

The Chimp is the only Grilla grill carved out to 2 years, and it is stated as such on Grilla's own warranty page. Whether that reflects reduced confidence in a portable unit that gets bounced around in truck beds, or just a commercial decision, Grilla has not said.

Warranty conditions worth reading

1. Original owner only, not transferable
2. Void if not purchased new from Grilla or an authorised retailer. Another reason to avoid discounted third-party listings
3. Requires dated proof of purchase
4. Excludes normal wear, corrosion, commercial use, misuse, neglect, unauthorised repair, failure to follow care instructions, and cosmetic-only damage as determined by Grilla

Is the warranty actually being honoured?

Partially evidenced, and the evidence is positive on parts. The free RTD replacement in the September 2026 case was shipped at no charge. A five-year Chimp owner described support as stellar. A Silverbac owner reported excellent handling of shipping damage.

Against that, Grilla's Trustpilot profile shows 3.1 from 4 reviews, one five-star and three one-star, unclaimed with no company replies. The negative themes: defective units on first use, a replacement control board that was itself defective, a board on back order, refunds withheld until physical return with the customer packing the grill themselves, no shipping ETA, unanswered emails and difficulty reaching anyone by phone. None of those four reviews mentions the Chimp.

The honest framing: four reviews proves nothing statistically, but the pattern across Trustpilot and the forums is consistent and specific. Grilla's parts and support response is good once you reach them. Reaching them is the friction point, and there is no support email.

Support details, verified: phone 616-392-7410, Monday to Friday 8am to 4pm CST, address 1800 N Rt. Z Ste A, Columbia, Missouri 65202, plus a web contact form.

Chimp vs the portable pellet competition

Price per square inch

Read that straight. On main-grate dollars per square inch the Chimp is second worst in the group, with only the Traeger Ranger behind it. Counting the included upper rack it improves to mid-pack at $1.57, but it is still beaten by GMG, recteq, Weber and Z Grills.

The Chimp is the most expensive portable pellet grill here and it does not win on area per dollar. It wins on hopper size, stainless construction, two probes and app control at this size. It loses on price, weight, warranty length and 120V-only power.

The three comparisons that actually decide it

Against GMG Trek Prime 2.0, $399. Runs natively on 12V DC or 120V, reaches 550F against the Chimp's 500F, weighs 26 lb less, has a 3 year warranty, and has the best area per dollar in the group. The Chimp wins on hopper, 15 lb against 9 lb, and construction. The Trek's problem is availability, it is frequently sold out or dealer-order only.

Against Pit Boss PB150PPB, $549.99. Runs on 12V DC at 71W with a battery rated up to 15 hours and a 110-120V adapter included, weighs 46.7 lb, has a 5 year warranty and a direct flame broiler to 1,000F. If off-grid is what you need, this is the honest answer, and it is $170 cheaper.

Against recteq Road Warrior 340P, $699.99. Matches the Chimp's 340 sq in main grate, beats it on hopper hours and on temperature ceiling at 700F against 500F, folds slightly smaller, same 2 year warranty, and costs $20 less. The trade is no app and no WiFi, and a 6 to 8 week preorder wait.

Availability is worth noting across the board. The GMG Trek is widely sold out, the recteq Road Warrior is preorder only at 6 to 8 weeks, and the Traeger Ranger shows as no longer available in new condition at some retailers. The Chimp is one of the few in this set unambiguously in stock and shipping in 1 to 2 days, which has real value if you need a grill this month.

Running costs and the accessories worth buying

Maintenance Grilla actually specifies

Straight from the owner's manual, and some of it matters more than people realise.

1. Keep the grill as level as possible so grease flows to the trough and can, and so the grease-catch sensor reads evenly. Grilla explicitly warns against placing it on an uphill slope, which can block the grease drain. Relevant if you tailgate or camp on uneven ground
2. Foil the drip tray tightly and change it frequently. Change the foil after a low and slow before any high-temp cook
3. Remove the grease can before moving the grill
4. Grease fire procedure: turn off, unplug, close the lid until it is out
5. Wire-brush the grates after each use. Soap and water before first use
6. Ash cleanout, hopper emptying and vacuuming every fifth bag of pellets. A shop vac is the practical tool
7. Clean the inner temp probe and temp sensor occasionally. Note that cleaning the RTD was Grilla's first troubleshooting step in both failure cases documented above
8. Never use wet pellets. They swell and jam the auger

One gap worth stating plainly: Grilla's product page lists All Season Performance as Yes, but the owner's manual contains no cold weather or wind guidance at all, and we found no independent test of the Chimp in cold or wind. Treat the all-season claim as unverified.

Who should buy the Chimp

Buy it if

1. You want the longest unattended cook in the portable class. The 15 lb hopper at roughly 1 lb per hour is the only one here that comfortably takes a brisket through unrefilled
2. You cook where mains power exists. Campsite hookups, an RV, a cabin, a second home, a patio or balcony, or a tailgate lot with a generator
3. You want stainless and double-wall insulation rather than painted thin-gauge steel, and you plan to keep it outdoors for years
4. You want WiFi app monitoring and two meat probes at this size, which only GMG also offers and GMG is usually out of stock
5. You move it by truck bed or SUV cargo area with a second pair of hands, not by carrying it
6. Your WiFi is 2.4 GHz capable, or you will run a hotspot
7. You need a grill this month, since most of the alternatives are sold out or on preorder

Buy something else if

1. You need genuine off-grid power. This is the decisive spec. The real off-grid cost runs $782 to $1,080 against a Pit Boss PB150PPB at $549.99 that runs natively on 12V with a battery included
2. One person has to lift it. At 90 lb it is 50 lb heavier than a Z Grills 200A
3. You are price sensitive. A Pit Boss 150 PPG gives you 256 sq in, app control and a 5 year warranty for $329.99
4. You treat warranty length as a proxy for risk. The Chimp's 2 years is the shortest here alongside recteq, and it is the only Grilla not on 4
5. You want serious searing. The Chimp caps at 500F against recteq's 700F, GMG's 550F and Pit Boss's 1,000F direct flame broiler
6. You want the same capacity for less. The recteq Road Warrior 340P matches the main grate, beats the temperature ceiling, and costs $20 less, if you can wait 6 to 8 weeks and do not need an app
7. Your router is 5 GHz only, or there is no WiFi where you cook

FAQ

Is Grilla Grills Chimp legit?

Yes. Grilla Grills was acquired by American Outdoor Brands (NASDAQ: AOUT) in March 2022 for $27 million and is still a named live AOB brand in 2026, operating from Columbia, Missouri. The BBB listing showing the company as out of business refers to the pre-acquisition Michigan entity and is a stale record. Buy direct from grillagrills.com though, since there is no meaningful third-party retail for the Chimp.

Can the Grilla Chimp run on a battery?

Not natively. It requires 120V mains. Grilla sells a 400W inverter at $61.99 for use with your own 12V battery, or a Power Station at $359.99. Grilla publishes no wattage figure for the Chimp, so neither option's headroom can be confirmed from its own documentation.

How long does the Chimp's hopper last?

Grilla claims 10 to 15 hours at around 250F on one 15 lb hopper. A hands-on test measured roughly 9 to 10 hours runtime with 4 to 5 lb left, which is around 1 lb per hour. Either way it is the longest in the portable class.

Why is the Chimp only 2 years when other Grillas are 4?

Grilla has not explained it. The Chimp is the only grill in the range carved out to 2 years, stated on Grilla's own warranty page. It is a reasonable thing for a buyer to weigh, particularly for a unit designed to be transported.

Why won't my Chimp connect to WiFi?

Almost certainly because it is 2.4 GHz only. Grilla's own Alpha Connect manual says that if your router is dual band and your device is on the 5GHz signal, it will not work. Split your bands or create a dedicated 2.4 GHz network for the grill. Setup also needs Bluetooth enabled on your phone, on the same network.

Is the Chimp 1.0 still available?

No. Grilla's own page for it carries a DISCONTINUED badge and points buyers to the 2.0. The main upgrade is a second meat probe, plus easier leg retraction, a pellet dump feature and built-in accessories that were previously separate.

Is the Chimp good for camping?

Only with power. At 90 lb it is truck-bed portable rather than carry portable, and it needs a mains outlet or an inverter plus battery. For a campsite with hookups it is excellent. For dispersed camping with no power, a 12V grill like the Pit Boss PB150PPB makes far more sense.

Bottom line

The Grilla Chimp 2.0 is a legitimate product from a legitimate company, and the things that make it look sketchy in search results are a stale BBB record, a retained Michigan phone number and a Trustpilot page with four reviews on it. None of those are reasons to walk away.

The real reasons to think twice are different and more concrete. It is the most expensive portable pellet grill in its class and second worst on area per dollar. It is the heaviest at 90 lb. It carries the shortest warranty of any grill Grilla makes. And despite being sold as a tailgater, it cannot leave a mains outlet without another $62 to $360 of kit.

What it genuinely does better than anything else at this size is run unattended. A 15 lb hopper at roughly a pound an hour is a brisket, overnight, without getting up. Add stainless construction, double-wall insulation, two probes and app control, and you have a specific grill for a specific person: someone who cooks long and slow, somewhere with power, and moves it in a truck.

If that is you, it is a good buy and it is in stock when most of its rivals are not. If any part of that description is wrong for you, the GMG Trek, the Pit Boss PB150PPB and the recteq Road Warrior all beat it on the dimension you probably care about more.