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 Continues Expansion Efforts
Cedar Rapids is Newest Location

MINNEAPOLIS, November 18, 2003 - Granite City Food & Brewery Ltd. (Nasdaq: GCFB) announced the opening of its fifth restaurant/microbrewery today in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

"Today was our fifth successful Granite City opening," said Steve Wagenheim, Granite City Food & Brewery's President and CEO, "and it has caused a real buzz in the market. We feel this will be another high volume opening. Our location, the well trained staff and the strength of the market has us very excited." Wagenheim added, "Our next Granite City is scheduled to open January 27th in Davenport, Iowa, where our management team has been established and staff training is well underway to assure another successful opening."

Wagenheim said additional restaurants are scheduled to open in Lincoln, Nebraska in March 2004 and Maple Grove, Minnesota in June 2004.

Granite City Food & Brewery Ltd. currently operates five 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, IA, and most recently, in Cedar Rapids, IA.

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 29, 2002 as filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

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