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.

As Expansion Continues Annual Revenues Increase 117% at Granite City Food & Brewery

MINNEAPOLIS, March 24, 2005 - Granite City Food & Brewery Ltd. (Nasdaq: GCFB) today reported the results of operations for the fourth quarter and fiscal year ended December 28, 2004. Revenues for fiscal year 2004 increased to approximately $30.8 million or 117% over fiscal year 2003 while net loss decreased approximately 40%, due primarily to the impact of our five prototype stores which opened between September 2003 and June 2004.

For fiscal year 2004, total revenue was $30,755,536 compared to $14,153,005 in fiscal year 2003. The Company reported a net loss of ($725,181), or ($0.25) per share for the year ended December 28, 2004 compared to a net loss of ($1,502,584), or ($0.56) per share in fiscal year 2003. In fiscal year 2004, pre-opening costs alone were $728,023.

"We are very pleased with our 2004 performance, from revenue to operating income to cash flows," said Steve Wagenheim, Granite City Food & Brewery's President and CEO. "Our income from restaurant operations, before pre-opening, corporate overhead, depreciation and amortization, was 18% of revenue for the year. This shows that our store level economics are strong, particularly at the new prototype stores that are using the Fermentus Interruptus process. We believe the results of adding new units into our system will be greater economies of scale for our corporate overhead expenses and continued increase in shareholder value. With construction underway in Wichita, we are feeling very confident going forward with our aggressive expansion schedule of 18 restaurants in three years." Wagenheim said the company;s developer is negotiating to purchase sites for Granite City Food & Brewery in Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska and Wisconsin.

For the quarter ended December 28, 2004, total revenue was $8,088,857 compared to $4,724,866 for the fourth quarter of 2003. The Company reported a net loss of ($273,848), or ($0.04) per share for the quarter ended December 28, 2004, compared to a net loss of ($665,363), or ($0.23) per share for the fourth quarter of 2003.

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, IA, Cedar Rapids, IA, Davenport, IA, Lincoln, NE and Minneapolis, 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, 2004 as filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

-financial statements follow