Granite City Restaurant features a full Bar and Brewery and has a growing amount of Restaurant and Bar locations in Cedar Rapids, Clive, Creve Coeur, Davenport, Eagan, East Peoria, Fargo, Fort Wayne, Kansas City, Lincoln, Madison, Maple Grove, Olathe, Omaha, Orland Park, Rockford, Rogers, Roseville, Sioux Falls, St. Cloud, St. Louis Park, Toledo, West Wichita, Wichita, Indianapolis, and South Bend.

Granite City Expands Into Minneapolis
Maple Grove, Minnesota is Home to the Company's Eighth Restaurant

MINNEAPOLIS, June 23, 2004 - Granite City Food & Brewery Ltd. (Nasdaq: GCFB) announced the opening of its eighth restaurant/microbrewery yesterday in Maple Grove, Minnesota.

"We had a fantastic opening day in Maple Grove," said Steve Wagenheim, Granite City Food & Brewery's President and CEO. "Sales and operations were great. Everyone worked hard in training and it looks like we have a very strong staff. Opening in this major metro area...our largest market to date is very important for our concept. We have a great product to offer," said Wagenheim, "and in this community which is so closely associated with dining and entertainment, I believe we will stand out. We are looking forward to a long future in the greater metropolitan area." Wagenheim added, "We are excited about the position of our company as we enter an aggressive phase of development for 2005, 2006 and 2007."

Granite City Food & Brewery Ltd. currently operates eight Granite City Food & Brewery casual dining restaurants featuring made-from-scratch food and handcrafted beers. Its broad menu offers traditional and regional foods served in generous portions at reasonable prices, affording guests an excellent value and great dining experience. Its first Granite City location, in St. Cloud, MN, opened in June 1999. Subsequently, the Company opened restaurants in Sioux Falls, SD, Fargo, ND, West Des Moines, Cedar Rapids and Davenport, IA, Lincoln, NE, and Maple Grove, MN.

Certain statements made in this press release of a non-historical nature constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated. Such factors include, but are not limited to, changes in economic conditions, changes in consumer preferences or discretionary consumer spending, a significant change in the performance of any existing units, the ability to obtain financing for, and complete construction of, additional restaurants at acceptable costs, our ability to implement and execute Fermentus Interruptus and the risks and uncertainties described in the Company's Form 10-KSB Report for the year ended December 28, 2003 as filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission

CONTACT:
Steven J. Wagenheim
President and Chief Executive Officer
(952) 525-2070 or (612) 751-3331