Simply Outdoors  River Oaks 5 Pc. Fire Pit Chat Set

Really like the looks of the set - its neutral colors make it blend in anywhere. Just add some small colorful toss pillows to match other pieces in your outdoor space. The set was relatively easy to put together-requires a little muscle. The one negative is that a couple of the tiles were chipped-guess we'll need to contact Sears about some replacement tiles.

I took a chance ordering this previously unreviewed product, but wow, are we pleasantly surprised! It turned out to be even better than we were hoping for. I would not hesitate to suggest this if you want a real fire pit and enjoy gathering around a fire, but also want a place to relax and serve food and beverages without having a fire. The chairs are comfortable, yet supportive (they rock back but don't collapse back like some cheaper models we had tried in stores). The cushions are thick, but yet soft (they don't collapse under your body weight, but are soft and comfortable). The table/fire pit is perfect. We expected just to have the ceramic tile border around the fire pit, but we were happy to find that the table comes with a solid metal cover for the fire pit section that allows you to cover the firepit and have an essentially flat table for serving when not using the fire pit. The solid cover or mesh cover will store safely underneath the table as it is designed with cross supports in the corners to hold these underneath the table. The fire pit is designed with a grate in the bottom that holds the wood up high enough that air gets underneath and helps fuel the fire for great burning; there is a vent in the bottom that you can open in case your fire needs more air, but we tried it on a relatively still night and had no problems keeping the fire burning. The square design of the table will make for easy removal of ashes, but the fire pit base can be removed for dumping the ashes. While the set comes with only 4 chairs, there is plenty of space to fit additional chairs or little side tables in. We can easily see how 7 or 8 chairs could be gathered around this for a great get together. The set was pretty easy to assemble - it took about 2 hours to assemble, but having a larger allen wrench (one with a handle) will make it easier than using the ones provided with the set. We only have three minor suggestions/criticisms. The back cushions do not have tabs to attach them to the chair backs. The supports across the seat of the chair are actually heavy plastic rather than metal - this is probably for comfort of the seat, and the plastic seems to be quite heavy duty so hopefully it will hold up. The fire pit poker, which is also used to lift the mesh cover, is a little more rounded and can be a challenge to get under the handle on the mesh cover. It might be helpful to have a fire poker with two prongs to provide a little more stability when trying to replace the mesh cover over the fire. Again, all minor things, and definitely not deal breakers in any way.