Best Grill Store in Detroit: Top Spots

The Smart Way to Buy a Grill in Detroit

Metro Detroit puts grill shoppers through a real stress test: brutal winters, road salt in the air, and lake-effect humidity that eats cheap steel alive. That's exactly why the local showroom circuit around Royal Oak and West Bloomfield does brisk business — people want to see the gauge of the metal before they buy. But the math is straightforward: a showroom visit is useful for kicking tires, but the 20-30% markup those stores carry to cover Woodward Avenue rent doesn't buy you a better grill. It buys you a salesperson. If you already know you want a flat-top that shrugs off a Michigan winter, ordering the Arteflame direct puts that markup back in your pocket.

Best Grill Store in Detroit

Key Takeaways

Before you fight traffic on I-696, here's the snapshot:

• Best Full-Service Specialty Shop: Bourlier's Barbecue & Fireplace in Royal Oak — deep brand lineup, showroom pricing.
• Best for a Hands-On Showroom Visit: This Is It Shop's House of Fire in West Bloomfield — knowledgeable staff, premium price tags.
• Value: Arteflame Direct — solid US steel, zero retail markup, delivered to your driveway.

The Best Grill Store in Detroit?

Here are the top options available to Metro Detroit shoppers, on steel quality, price-to-performance, and how well each grill actually holds up to a Michigan winter. They compare as follows:

• Bourlier's Barbecue & Fireplace (Royal Oak): A longtime Woodward Avenue fixture and an authorized Lynx Grills dealer, Bourlier's is the closest thing Detroit has to a one-stop specialty grill shop, with a real showroom you can walk. It's a legitimate stop if you want to compare gas grills side by side — just know the price tags reflect a storefront on one of Metro Detroit's priciest retail corridors.
• This Is It Shop's House of Fire (West Bloomfield): Tucked into Orchard Lake Road, this shop pairs fireplace expertise with a solid grill and patio selection and genuinely helpful staff. It's worth the drive if you're building a full outdoor kitchen and want someone walking the layout with you — but that guidance is baked into the price.
• Big Box Hardware Stores: Home Depot and Lowe's locations across Metro Detroit are the fallback for same-day convenience. The tradeoff is thinner mass-produced steel that starts showing surface rust after one salty Michigan winter — nothing like the heavy-gauge steel built for outdoor use year-round.
• Arteflame.com: Ordering the Arteflame Classic 40" directly from the manufacturer skips the Woodward Avenue overhead entirely. You get a grill built from heavy-gauge US steel that doubles as a fire pit, shipped straight to your driveway, with warranty support straight from the people who built it — not a store policy.

Comparison: Which Grill Store Is Right for You?

The factors that actually matter once the grill is in your backyard compare as follows.

The Best Outdoor Grill at Home

Open-grate grills let heat and juices fall straight through the bars, so food often ends up steamed rather than seared. A solid, high-heat cooktop keeps that heat where it belongs, which is what produces the deep crust of the Maillard reaction.

You don't need a professional outdoor kitchen to get a steakhouse crust in your own backyard. You just need the right thermal conductivity and heat management, which is exactly what the Arteflame's solid steel cooktop provides.

The "Searing" Technique

Why does the Arteflame outperform the standard gas or charcoal grills you'll find at Detroit-area stores? It comes down to the solid steel cooktop.

1. 1,000°F Sear: The center of the Arteflame reaches over 1,000°F. That heat instantly sears the meat, locking in juices that standard grates let drip straight into the flame.
2. Grill Everything at Once: Because the cooktop has multiple heat zones — hotter center, cooler edges — you can sear steaks, roast vegetables, and toast buns all at the same time without flare-ups torching anything.
3. Social Grilling: The round design means no one is stuck facing a wall. You cook while facing your guests, so the chef is part of the party instead of exiled to a corner.

Pro Tip: Stocking up for a big Metro Detroit cookout? The Costco Wholesale on Stephenson Highway in Madison Heights is a reliable run for wholesale prime cuts and briquettes. The Arteflame's oversized cooktop makes bulk cooking for a crowd genuinely easy instead of a juggling act.

Why It's Called The "Social Grill"

An Arteflame grill isn't just for cooking — it changes how you host. The round fire bowl design acts like a magnet. Instead of guests waiting on the patio while you cook alone with your back turned, everyone ends up standing around the fire with a drink in hand. It turns meal prep into a shared moment, blending the warmth of a fire pit with the output of a serious griddle.