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 APPOINTS DANIEL H. BAUER CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER

MINNEAPOLIS, August 18, 2005 - Granite City Food & Brewery Ltd. (Nasdaq: GCFB) President and CEO Steven J. Wagenheim announced today that Daniel H. Bauer will join the company as Chief Financial Officer.

A senior financial executive with over 15 years of experience, primarily in the food industry, Bauer is the former CFO of Church's Chicken, a division of AFC Enterprises.

"We are delighted to have an industry veteran who has been in the public arena and has a great understanding of operations," said Wagenheim. "Dan's experience with multi-unit operations as well as public stock offerings makes him a great fit, and we are looking forward to a long and productive relationship as we grow this company to national prominence."

Wagenheim said Bauer will start with the company in mid-September.

Granite City Food & Brewery Ltd. currently operates nine 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, Minneapolis, MN and Wichita, KS.

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