Pardon my ignorance...so the "grill" is not functional, just the idea of an in-ground grill? I have a square hibatchi that sucked for grilling but I didn't have the heart to toss it.

no, it does work. we sunk a high heat light in the ground that acts as the base of the bqq, and put a grill ontop whereby we use charcoal briquettes and bbq that way. it works great.

Wow! Can you explain "high heat light"? Or include a picture or link as to what it is?

its a metal insert fixture that is what they use at baseball fields for light. Essentially the large lights you see in outfield. I dont have an image unfortunately. It was just a random find at a used building supply store as i field of lights had been dismantled. It just all happened to be the exact size to fit a webber lid that our neighbour was putting in the trash!

How do you get the lower air flow ventilation? Or are you just yanking our chains, lol