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® to Open in Kansas City

MINNEAPOLIS, April 8, 2005 - Granite City Food & Brewery Ltd. (Nasdaq: GCFB) announced today it plans to open a Granite City Food & Brewery® in Kansas City, Missouri.

"This is a prime location for us," said Steve Wagenheim, Granite City Food & Brewery's President and CEO. "We anticipate opening our restaurant in October 2005 in the heart of Zona Rosa-- an upscale lifestyle center which is located in north Kansas City. Our developer has signed purchase agreements for three additional locations which we anticipate opening prior to year end." Wagenheim added, "Construction is progressing as planned in Wichita where we are looking forward to the first restaurant opening of this aggressive expansion phase of 18 units in three years." Granite City Food & Brewery is scheduled to open in Wichita in July 2005.

Wagenheim said the company;s developer is currently negotiating on sites in Kansas, Nebraska, Wisconsin and Minnesota for continued expansion in 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, 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.

Contact:
Steven J. Wagenheim
President and Chief Executive Officer

(952) 525-2030 or (612) 751-3331