Granite City Food and Brewery (Cedar Rapids)

June 25, 2008
It’s big, and it’s incredibly typical. Food is alright, beer is a decent value but not that great and on the whole it’s a bar without soul.

January 28, 2008
I go here to eat and not for the beer (chicken parmesan is great). The beer is not bad but nothing special. The service is always hit and miss but the food is always good. The usually have their four main beers and a seasonal as well as other domestics and the usual imports. Again, come for the food not for the beer.

October 25, 2007
I’ve eaten here twice, and both times I was not impressed. Each time it was just my girlfriend and I, and we were seated at huge tables. The wait staff took forever to get to our table both times, and almost seemed like we were bothering them by coming. The food is your normal american food, nothing great. Reminds me of that nice applebees microwaved taste with more salt added. Beer was decent, but boring. From what I was told they don’t brew the beer on site, even though it looks like they have the equipment. I won’t be going back any time soon.

April 12, 2007
I didn’t know this was a chain until I got home. It sure looked like one inside but you never know. Nothing noteworthy here. I did like their stout, but it wasn’t heavy enough for me. They serve huge portions of food and it isn’t half bad. Everyone is friendly and they are quick with service.

May 15, 2006
The beer seemed to be better than other Granite City places. They have brew kettles on-site (unless those were serving vessels). Food was good. Service was good. Floors were slick. Only had 4 beers on tap.

November 6, 2005 [ Updated May 23, 2007 ]
Chain restaurant and brew pub, but a decent place despite this. They do brew their own beer after all. Food is actually very good, as was the service. 5ish beers on tap. Worth returning to, but they really need to mix up their beer selection a bit. I don’t think it ever changes. The other strange thing is that they mix their tap beers and pretend that it’s actually a different beer.

July 6, 2005
The MaiBock is pretty tasty and the food selection is much better than other breweries in the area. I would recommend it if you want a good beer with a good meal. On the other hand, the fact that the beer is brewed elsewhere and shipped to C.R.’s Granite City before conditioning definitely shows -- the beer, while good, seems like it should be better.

May 29, 2005
I mainly drink the MaiBock. Beers are a bit too watery. Good with a meal, which are also good here and service is good as well. Plenty of plasma tvs always on sports. Plan on watching the Hawks here this fall with a couple 25 ounce mug brews. Good wings, but a bit too salty. Patio is a plus in the spring.

April 30, 2005
Large and spacious sterile facility. Friendly staff. Samples served in large shot glasses. Only 4 beers on tap. Nothing special, but I would take it over an average sit down restaurant.