Crisp and Golden Mac and Cheese Cakes on the Grill
Turn yesterday's leftover macaroni into today's crispy, golden side dish with this easy wood-fired recipe.
Chandler has grown into one of the East Valley's most competitive backyards for grilling gear, but the desert heat changes the math on what's actually worth buying. A grill that has to survive 115°F summers and monsoon dust needs to be built from real materials, not the thin-gauge steel that dominates most showroom floors. Before you drive out to a local store, it's worth understanding where your money actually goes: into the grill itself, or into the rent on the building it's sitting in. Chandler's grill retailers stack up head to head as follows, and what changes if you buy direct instead.
Chandler shoppers have two realistic paths: local shops like Barbeques Galore let you see a grill in person before you buy, while a direct-to-consumer option like Arteflame skips the showroom overhead and ships heavier steel straight to your door.
The real options in and around Chandler stack up as follows:
The buying paths compare as follows on the factors that actually matter for a Chandler backyard.
| Option | Price | Searing Capability | Maintenance | Social Design |
| Arteflame (Online) | No Markup | 1,000°F+ Center Sear | Solid Steel, No Grates to Replace | 360° Open Design |
| Barbeques Galore (Local Specialty) | Retail Markup | Varies by Brand | Grates and Burners to Maintain | Standard Box Design |
| Home Depot / Lowe's (Big Box) | Lowest Upfront | Thin Gas Burners | Rust-Prone, Frequent Replacement | Standard Box Design |
Standard grates leave most of the cooking surface open, so heat and juice escape instead of searing the meat — a solid steel cooktop closes that gap.
You don't need a reservation at a Chandler steakhouse to get that kind of crust at home. You need a surface that gets hot enough, and holds that heat evenly, which is exactly what a solid steel plancha-style grill is built to do.
Here's why this design beats what's sitting on most Chandler showroom floors.
Pro Tip: Stock up on prime cuts at the Costco in Chandler (595 S Galleria Way) before your first cook — their wholesale prices on ribeyes and briskets pair perfectly with the high-heat sear an Arteflame is built for.
An Arteflame changes the shape of how you host. Instead of the cook standing alone at a boxy gas grill against the patio wall, the round, fire-pit-style design puts everyone in a circle around the heat. That's the difference between a host who disappears into grilling duty and one who's actually part of the party. For a Chandler backyard built for entertaining most of the year, that difference matters.