Sonoma By Altima Grill Reviews

3.5 Star Char-Broil Grill Review

Sonoma By Altima Grills: Large And Attractive, Design And Quality Issues

When shopping for grills at Lowes, Home Depot, or other big box discount stores, the average consumer only has access to a few select grill brands. Combining this with the fact that specialty grill stores aren’t exactly on every corner can leave consumers with a narrow view of the overall grill market. The grills found in these big box stores are commonly of two main types: store-owned brands built inexpensively in China to a price point and the usual Weber models found in nearly every store. O ne good example of this type of product placement is the new line of grills at Lowes under the name Sonoma By Altima.

Sonoma By Altima grills have replaced the Perfect Flame models Lowes recently discontinued. These Sonoma grills share the same model numbers as their predecessor, but are made by a different manufacturer. This is a step in the right direction for Lowes as the Sonoma By Altima grills are built by Sure Heat, a manufacturer with a long history of building outdoor grills. Sure Heat is most notably known for their high end Altima line of professional grills; however, the Luxury Altima line has no connection to the new Sonoma By Altima grills.

There are currently two models available in the Sonoma By Altima line. A standard 4 burner grill and their modular island grill. The modular island grill has three stand alone pieces, including a sink, stove, and refrigerator. All together this unit goes for almost 2300 dollars. The grill section alone is available for 999 dollars and has 64,000 BTU’s covering 872 square inches of primary cooking area. As a smaller but more reasonable offer, the 4 burner grill includes a side burner, 76,000 BTU’s and 756 square inches of primary cooking area for 699 dollars.

Although Sonoma By Altima grills are relatively new, they have been around for a few years. They were previously carried under the name Tuscany By Altima and discontinued by Costco due to the fact that many owners had internal rusting issues and needed expensive replacement parts after only a few years. Even though the current Sonoma By Altima models are new to the market, they will share the same rusting problems as previous models did due to their inferior internal parts and materials. Luckily, parts are easy to come by and Sure Heat is eager to send replacements even though their website hasn’t been updated in over 7 years.

As a mid-priced grill, the Sonoma By Altima delivers in several areas and misses in others it shouldn’t. They certainly are full featured grills with just about every accessory needed, have large attractive designs featuring granite and stainless steel, and offer a high even heat due to a thick hood and brick-lined fire box. On the other hand however, the overall design, quality, and warranty of these grills suffer. The 4 burner Sonoma has had issues with overheating and the control knobs melting with the right wind conditions. Additionally, while the Sonoma By Altima grills are quick to heat up and plenty powerful, they have little heat control in lower temperature settings. Plus, the warranty on these grills doesn’t give the consumer much confidence with a mere 1 year on replaceable parts and 3 years on the burners.

Based on the above and while the Sonoma By Altima is a little better than some grills in this price range, its design and quality issues keep it from being a good choice for your next grill.

Strengths

Weaknesses

• Full feature grills