Granite City Food and Brewery (Maple Grove)

January 3, 2007
Dark, woodsy bar. Bartenders didn’t seem to know what they were pouring using terms like dark and light to describe the beer, but they were friendly enough. Suburbs, so mostly families in this location. Crowded on a weekday evening. I didn’t eat, food looked OK.

April 15, 2006
had a very tasty 5 alarm burger and that was the highlight. beers were fun to try but thought they were to safe and not very interesting. worth a visit if you want a session but don’t go out of your way.

January 5, 2006
Nov 7th 05 I liked this place a lot.. it appeared very new and while the wait was long on friday night once we got a table our food was quick and delicious.. The beers were the standards accross every one while I was there as the specialties were out. The selection of taps was limited to only theirs that I saw. Service was top notch and I had fun.

May 5, 2005
My 1st official trip to this GC; the 1st time I tried to go there was shortly after they opened & we couldn’t get a table. Sat in the patio which is almost perfectly situated on the North side of the building which gets a good dose of sun in the evening. Very pleasant, upscale interior. Large window displays the brewing kettles, so you know you are in a brewpub. The service was very attentive & I must have counted over a dozen different servers come out to the patio between 4:30-7:30. Never had to wait to order a beer. Which leads me to the beer. I echo badgerben’s comments in that it is avg. Head brewmaster, Bill Burdick, owned the highly acclaimed Sherlock’s Home in Minnetonka which strangely closed a couple of yrs ago, despite seemingly always being full and offering unique, quality food & beer product. Given the fact that Sherlock’s had a solid stable of excellent beers, I find it puzzling that GC doesn’t have a single stand out beer in their lineup, which has not changed one iota in the 4 years since I 1st visited a GC. Their idea of new beers is to mix 2 of them together. I am wary of any brewpub that does that; it is a clear statement that "our beers aren’t good enough on their own." And true enough, the IPA-Maibock mix is better than either individually. It appears Mr. Burdick sold out for profitability’s sake, which has been a real loss to the craft beer community.

January 15, 2005
Just about a brand new building. It definitely strikes me as attempting to be a 21st century brew pub. The food is a little above average. The beers, however, are average. Worth a stop if you’re in the area, but not worth a trek.