I did in the last BWE - grenade kid was the first utility skill I bought. From what I could tell, the basic grenade attack did a bit more damage up front than my pistol shot, but it didn't inflict bleeding.
The Conditions that I could inflict (Chilled, Poison, Bleeding, something else) with the grenades were roughly comparable to what I could get out of my pistols, but because all grenade skills are manually ground targeted AoE effects, I was able to spread them around somewhat more efficiently.
I found that the best thing to do was swapping between my pistols and the grenades for maximum effect. In a group situation, where the mobs weren't running at me trying to eat my face, I'd say the grenades were better (at least, until I got the Flamethrower. Gods I love me some Flamethrower action ).
The major question, though, is, "was it fun?" I can say that yes, yes it was. The grenades feel different enough for combat to still be interesting, and when you start throwing them around you'll be surrounded by explosions. I really felt like a mad scientist out in the field - it was fantastic.