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 Food & Brewery Promotes Tim Cary to Chief Operating Officer - Restaurant Operations

MINNEAPOLIS, December 22, 2003 - Granite City Food & Brewery Ltd. (Nasdaq: GCFB) announced today that Tim Cary, has been promoted to Chief Operating Officer-Restaurant Operations. Mr. Cary had served as Vice President of Operations since the company began operations in 1999. James "Smokey" Hughes, who joined Granite City Food & Brewery in October, is the Sr. Vice President of Operations.

"As we open three more stores in the next six months, generating over $32 million in annual sales company wide, we will rely on Tim's operational expertise even more to enhance corporate activity and provide timely tools and support to field operations," said Steve Wagenheim, Granite City Food & Brewery's President and CEO. "It just makes sense to have this highly technical operator who has a keen business instinct as our COO, solidifying corporate and field operations. It is my belief that with the combined operations backgrounds and proven track records of Tim and Smokey, we are ready for additional growth in 2004 and beyond."

Prior to joining Granite City Food & Brewery, Mr. Cary held a variety of management positions with the Champps Americana chain of restaurants, and was an operations coordinator for Ground Round, Inc.

Wagenheim said the company is scheduled to open a Granite City Food & Brewery in Davenport, Iowa on January 27, 2004, Lincoln, Nebraska in May 2004 and in Maple Grove, Minnesota in July 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 real estate market, our ability to complete construction of additional restaurants at acceptable costs, and the risks and uncertainties described in the Company's Form 10-KSB Report for the year ended December 30, 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