It's a place with their own brew - my hubby claimed the beer is great, but I hate beer so that means nothing to me. Best thing at Granite City: pretzel appetizer! Holy crap those are fantastic. My mixed drink (Flying Monkey) was also delicious. We went with a few friends and everyone's food was hot and no complaints. My only issue revolved around ketchup. I'm a ketchup freak and I had to ask several times for more (they give you little cups like its WWII rations). We had a very enjoyable time until about 9PM and then the terrible live band from the bar began and made me want to stab my ears. Great service, excellent food, and good drinks.
Review Source:Tried the London Broil for the first time, I could have done without the grilled onion in bourbon sauce, a bit too sweet for me. But all in all, it was good, a large portion, probably enough to share. Also got one of the signature sides for an appetizer, Shrimp Scampi. They were cooked perfectly, and the right size for an appetizer,
Review Source:This is the perfect place to go grab some appetizers and sit in the bar area. The pretzels and cheese are addictive. The pretzels are perfect for dipping and not too filling. The loaded fries with the Granite City dip are also very tasty, but it's a huge portion, so be ready to share.
Review Source:Sometimes a $20 steak tastes like a $5 steak. Â Not tonight. Â I paired up my sirloin with a pint of fresh bock and was amazed. Â If you are looking to eat on the cheap, this isn't your stop, but if you are willing to plunk down a little green, you won' be sorry.
Staff was great. Â The beer was tasty. Â My food was awesome! Â All that along with Monday Night Football and some surprise Jovi on the radio made for a great time!
Visited again yesterday and the ketchup issue still exists. Â Only this time, when the waiter asked if we needed anything and my wife asks for ketchup and mayo, the waiter replays "Can you just give me a minute?" Â Uh, OK. Â You asked us if we needed anything. Â Sorry to bother you. Â I guess we'll go somewhere else next time. Â If you want to find me, I'll be across the street at Daddy Jack's where the steak fries are awesome and they will give you as much ketchup as you want without bitching about it.
Review Source:Some co-workers and I were in town for business training and this was a good find.
We came here for dinner, drinks and lunch on separate occasions (during a 1 week period).
Yes, it was really close to our hotel, but it was the food that brought us back!
Their beer sampler was popular with everyone. Super cheap way to have a lot of beer.
While pizza can be boring and cliche with their toppings- a friend and I ordered 2 different kinds just so we could split and try them both. Best decision of the evening if I do say so myself.
They also have gulten free options (+).
A must try: Their lager soup. Come to mama.
I want to like Granite City a whole heck of a lot--because it's close to home, because they brew their own beer and because they have a big menu.
But every time I go there, I'm just not 'wow-ed'. Â I mean it's good enough and deserving of 3.5 stars, but I went ahead and gave it 4.
What Granite City does well...
Flatbreads -- these are delicious
Beer -- it's definitely better since they started brewing their own (not my favorite local brew, but it's better than a host of other places)
Brunch -- I've only been on Saturday, but I hear that the Sunday brunch is out of this world.
Specials -- both drink and food. Â Something decent is always on special here.
What I wish they did better...
Service -- it's just never been spot on. Â There is always something I find that's just not right. Â Perhaps it's because I've had the same server several times and I just don't like her nonchalant attitude.
Portions -- their portions are HUGE. Â I'd much rather enjoy an appropriately priced and sized dinner than take home more than half of my meal.
Mug Club -- you gotta pay to join, which is odd, but there are some perks that come along with it. So we joined anyway.
The short of it: I'll go to Granite City for food or drink or both, but it's not the place that comes to mind when suggesting something.
First time visit to GC for dinner last night and I was more than happy with the service and food. Â There was no wait for a table, even thought the parking lot was packed at 7:30pm. Â Our waitress was prompt and friendly, no complaints at all. Â On the table:
Spinach dip: Excellent! Â This stuff was so good and huge, we shared it between 4 people and left some on the plate.
Idaho potatoes: Just as excellent and huge. Â There was a small mountain of sour cream on top, it could be scaled back. Â If you're not a fan of sour cream (I'm not) just eat around the outside, there's more than plenty. Â Again, 4 of us ate on this and came no where near finishing.
Tomato basil flatbread pizza: Â Huge, tasty, shareable and recommended!
Walleye: My beau had this and said it was good. Â I'll take his word as I don't eat animal.
Tortellini: I didn't try it, but it looked good and my friend happily ate a large portion and took the rest home.
Some kind of wrap: Â I have no idea what my friend's husband ate, but it was in a wrap and stuffed full of...stuff...with a side of fries. Â He had no complaints.
Maybe we can on a 'hot' night, but I was impressed. Â The prices are a little steep for my (frugal) taste, but not outrageous for the amount of food you get. Â Give it a shot and remember to SHARE!
Better service this time and good food. As others have posted it is either hot or cold here. Our experience has been either really bad service with good food or good service and really bad food. Tonight actually good on both. We were there around 10pm. Chicken Caesar Salad and the Overlake sandwich. And yes less then half a shot glass full of ketchup.
Actually over heard another table talking to their server and manager about the reviews on here. The manager stated he never has read the comments on yelp. Such a shame. This can be a great tool to improve service / food. Come on Dave ( I think that was his name ) read some reviews and fix the issues. There are too many places in Indy, and Carmel to eat not to read reviews.
I want to like GC but I just never do. The food is anywhere from "not bad" to "very good" but the service, from the front entrance to the whole meal is always underwhelming, which seems like a real shame. Â I'll keep trying every few months to see if it ever gets any better. Â Until then, 2 stars is generous.
Review Source:Good atmosphere, friendly waitstaff, and delicious food. The Sunday brunch is amazing, but typically there's a pretty good wait due to the after-church crowd. The Cuban with sweet potato fries and a pepper bacon and tomato flatbread appetizer is my go-to meal. Overall, one of my favorite places to eat on the north side.
Review Source:Love love love this place! The Bruchetta chicken salad is amazing. I had the chicken tortellni recently and it's amazing. Always great service. I've never had a bad meal here. The flatbread pizzas are good. Also, when they have their seasonal blueberry beer that is also purple, give it a try. Very yummy.
Review Source:We only go for brunch on the weekends, so this review is for the brunch.
Overall, very good. For a family of two adults and two kids, total is about $50. We get the gift cards from CostCo so that brings it down to $40. For a brunch buffet with a good selection of higher end food than the usual breakfast suspects (Original Pancake House, IHOP, etc.) in Indianapolis, that's very good.
The prime rib is very tender and juicy. The bacon and sausage are excellent. There's also custom made eggs benedict, waffles, etc.
Let's keep this simple folks: wide selection of booze With live entertainment (the guy waiting on our table was chiming along with Rihanna singing "only girl in the world" and the old guy at the bar was jiving all alone at midnight singing for himself on his birthday...in an empty restaurant.. Not quite sure whether that was funny or pathetic..2 pints of beer and some flatbread down.. We decided that we had enough!
Review Source:This place is so hot and cold it is not funny. It is right around the corner from my office, so I usually visit for lunch. My advice would be to stick with the burgers or wrap sandwiches. Other items seem to be really hit and miss. The Bedda Chedda burger is probably the best thing on the menu and they offer a lunch portion which is nice. I have found the soups and other sandwiches to be so-so.
If you are looking for a place to have a drink, this is a good place. The bar staff is very friendly and they have a great selection of their own craft beers. they also have a full bar and wine list.
The restaurant also tends to be pretty loud, so if you need a quite place to have a biz lunch, this might not be the best place.
Most days there is a wait for lunch, so try and be there before noon to avoid the 20+ minute wait. The fact that this place can be so inconsistent yet have a line every day goes to show just how underserved this area of Indy/Carmel is in terms of restaurants. Daddy Jacks/Kona Jacks are really the only other non-fast food options in this area.
If you give this place a try, stick to the basics or you might be disappointed
Granite City, situated on the near north side of Indy off Meridian, is a newer hot spot to meet for drinks and enjoy some unique dishes.
GCF and Brewery brews their own beets on site and also incorporates them into some of their dishes. Â Take out offer online has a $5 off $25 order.
Many menu items have suggested brew pairings.
Lunch suggestions: Ale and Cheddar soup, Linguine with Grilled Chicken and Asparagus paired with  Wag's American Wheat is a great combo for lunch. Â
Dinner suggestion: Wedge Salad and Honey Rosemary Filet Mignon with
garlic mashed potatoes and fresh broccoli.
This place has plenty of atmosphere for entertaining with friends and is a great place to suggest if you are looking for something fresh. Â They feature Saturday and Sunday Brunch menus as well.
We've been here several times now and the experience has been great every single time. Â We've ordered their beer sampler and can say they're all great but we especially like the Octoberfest.
The food is great and the portion sizes are enormous. Â The Idaho Nacho appetizer must be weighed in pounds. Â The Tomato Basil Flatbread pizza appetizer was great. Â I've ordered the Napa Valley burger and highly recommend it.
We went there this past Sunday for brunch. Â The food on the buffet was high quality (probably the best bacon I've ever had), hot, and the delicious.
Be sure and go some Monday and join the Mug Club. Â You get larger beer sizes and reduced prices on the food.... a real bargain.
I've now been here twice over the course of the last year, and honestly I think that is quite enough. Â The first time I don't remember much about either the beer or the food. Â I know I got a flatbread pizza, and I remember liking it ok enough. Â I remember literally nothing about the beer. Â Visit two was just this past weekend and while I remember what I had right now, it is fading fast as it was equally non-descript. Â To drink, I had the stout, which was ok, and to eat I had their pasta with alfredo sauce and had them add broccoli. Â It was also ok. Â Oh, and we also shared the pretzel appetizer between five of us. Â They were breadstick-esque pretzels with cheese dip that looks suspiciously like the cheese soup one of our party ordered. Â Really, if that were to whole of my experience, I would come back if someone else wanted to come here. Â The service, however, was something else altogether.
After waiting about 15 min for a table (no big deal, it was Sat night and we had five people), we were seated, Â It was probably pushing 10 minutes before our server came to our table, and when she did, she was completely condescending about their beers. Â She started out asking if any of us had been there before, which most of us had, and then said "well we do brew our own beers in house, but I'll only bother telling you about them if any of you are even interested in ordering beer". Â This was said in a tone and manner that completely implied that because we were five women, we would probably be ordering f'ing cosmos or chocolate martinis, so she wasn't going to waste her time discussing beer with us. Â Turns out all five of us are avid beer drinkers (hence choosing a brewpub for dinner). Â Aside from being immediately insulted, the service throughout the meal was also terrible. Â Our pretzels were delivered by someone not our server, and they were quickly dropped on our table with no appetizer plates. Â After waiting long enough that a skin was forming on the cheese dip, one of our party ended up scrounging up plates form wait stations around the restaurant so we could eat our food. Â It was our waitress who brought our actual meals, but then we did not see her again until we had been done with our food completely for 10-15min. Â I don't know if she smiled at all, and was clearly not excited to be working. Â Fine, I get it, I've waited tables - it can often really blow - but that is no excuse for the abysmal service we received during this meal.
Went to Granite City with my Chicago-area cousins for dinner on Saturday night. Â My first time to this chain. Â The place was pretty busy, but our service was fast and efficient. Â My cousin ordered the walleye and some shrimp scampi, his wife had the seared tuna, and I opted for the Italian scallops. Â All the food was good.
As I was the DD, I was tea-totalling and stuck with diet pepsi, but my cousins seemed to enjoy the brews. Â I really like that these type of places let you sample the beers before you commit. Â My cousin's wife sampled 3 different beers -- sharing with the both of us -- and decided upon the IPA. Â I'm not a beer drinker, but do enjoy sampling from time to time.
It's not amazing, but I did enjoy my visit there. I got a portabella mushroom sandwich (one of the very few veggie options, but hey it's something) and it was pretty good. I went with my mom, and we sat in the bar area, which was laid back and clean, but without a lot of personality.
The highlight of the meal was the dessert we ordered: Cheesecake Chimichangas. Gooey, fried cheesecake goodness! Aaahhh it was sooo sinfully delicious. I would go back again just for those.
The service was good, and they were at the tail end of the Sunday brunch when we were there. It looked amazing, so I may go back to check that out.
Great selection and amazing quality food. The flatbread pizza appetizer is one of my favorites on the menu. It's made to perfection! The ale and cheddar soup is also very tasty. This too is an appetizer, but I would happily eat a whole bowl for dinner.
Good service and atmosphere. It can get busy, but they keep things moving so there's no long waits.
Their stout was pretty poor--oatmeal stout without much body. The bock was OK in a taster glass, but lost a lot of its appeal in a larger glass.
On the plus side, they did serve the bock in a proper sized mug!
As for the food: I've had better ale & cheddar soup. 4square tips suggested the shrimp taco trio's, so I tried those. The sauce did a good job of bringing out the flavor of the shrimp, but the pico on it had too many onions. And the mexican rice on the size had far too much cumin in it.
Overall, meh.
I went to Granite for the second time just a couple days ago. Overall the food is solid, the beer is great, the menu is expansive, and service is friendly. But this last visit was lackluster for several small reasons:
1. When the waitress brought me my raspberry iced tea, my first sip was a mouthful of pure raspberry syrup since she hadn't mixed it at all. Ugh, not pleasant. The second one she brought was like that too, but I had caught on to her.
2. The Idaho nachos, which were awesome last time I was there, were covered in oddly placed sheets of cheese, so grabbing one waffle fry was difficult.
3. When a server brought out my clam chowder and salad, she announced exactly what it was before setting it down. I knew what I had ordered. I just wanted the food in front of me that very moment.
4. When finally flagged down the waitress to get a refill of my all you-can-eat-soup-and-salad, the waitress looked at me like I was crazy. What, no soup for me?
5. The second salad that came out had croutons on it. The first one had not. Oh.
6. Our bill was screwed up, and while we did the math and figured out that the waitress had given us the correct total, she offered no explanation as to why there were two receipts, with things crossed off, and the actual total hand-written in pen.
So yeah, this visit was kind of all over the place. But I'm not opposed to going back. I just hope they get the little things right.
After receiving a gift card for Granite City, we decided to try it out in spite of the mediocre Yelp reviews. Frankly, the restaurant lived down to expectations. We arrived on a Saturday night at around 8pm and had to wait about 20 minutes for our table. As we were being seated, the waitress arrived and tried to take a drink order before the wife even had her coat off - not a great start. In reviewing the menu, we noticed that a lot of the dinners had some strange combinations of flavors, especially the pasta. For example, the "Pesto Chicken" is "smothered in alfredo and basil." Since when does pesto have alfredo sauce, and vice versa? The Blackened Chicken Linguine is tossed in a creamy parmesan sauce (not alfredo?) and finished in Bearnaise sauce. Really? Bernaise? Does it come with a side of Statins? The menu oddities aside, we ordered a wedge salad, french onion soup, BBQ pork chops, and a Southwestern chicken salad. The soup was good but the wedge salad came with flavorless hot house tomatoes instead of tastier cherry or grape tomatoes. The pork chops are advertised as two 7oz chops. Our plate had one chop that was substantially larger than the other. This resulted in the smaller chop being much more dried out than the larger. The mash potatoes were very dry as well. The Southwest chicken salad was fine, the vinaigrette was very light so I ordered a side of extra dressing which helped add needed flavor.
Sadly, Indy is the capital of chain restaurants and this one ranks below other better choices. Pick a locally owned restaurant instead of Granite City but if you insist on a chain, I'd recommend Cheesecake Factory or Houlihan's for similar choices and better quality.
Went here with my mom after work one day so it was on the earlier side for dinner which ended up being a good idea because they were quite busy when we were leaving!
We had a really enjoyable time, we split a pitcher of wheat beer (I think they might be $6 on Thursday now?) and I had this awesome chicken sandwich. It had spinach and artichoke on it and was so yummy! My mom really enjoyed her meal too!
The service was also good, he was attentive without being around too much which my mom and I, as former servers, enjoy very much! Sadly, I don't remember his name!
The fries were excellent and the meal was big enough that I had half the sandwich for lunch the next day! Yum! Hopefully visits in the future will continue to be as enjoyable!
I have been meaning to write this review for sometime...I don't know how I keep forgetting, b/c the first time I visited here for lunch, I had the worst service I've had in Indy in a few years. Â I was 8 months pregnant and ordered the fastest thing on the menu - soup and salad. Â Somehow my girlfriends meals (both hot - one chicken) came out 15 minutes before mine. Â I was sitting with an empty tea and no food for an immense amount of time (especially for a pregnant hungry chick). Â I never saw our waiter again. Â I had to flag down a waitress who was working in another section, tell her about my forgotten EASY meal and asked to see a manager.
The manager kindly comped my meal, but the waiter was never to be seen again - somehow I doubt they fired him over it, but I would not be surprised. Â Restaurant business is finicky and all. Â The one annoying thing was that I was charged for my iced tea that never got refilled ($2.99 or something ridic).
In any case, it was nearly a year before I ventured back in. Â When service blows, I just don't deal well. Â I was a server in my early working days and appreciate what it means to EARN a tip, be kind and do my (though hard), simple job.
We went a few weeks ago with my in laws b/c my hubby has been wanting to try it out. Â We both got the salmon and it was good. Â Nothing particularly overwhelming. Â The server was nice and consistent. Â Much better than my last experience, which is why they get 2 stars instead of 1. Â What can I say...I'm nice like that. Â
If you are looking for some place to eat, it's obviously hit and miss. Â I mean, it's not horrible, but there are other (better) options.
There Jasper was -- lounging at his mobile office in the Northside Renaissance Hotel amidst the Corporate landscape. And as Jasper kicked off his airport-purchased Johnston & Murphy shoes...he clicked on the tube and on came the Dana Carvey-vehicle "Opportunity Knocks," the 1990 classic.
Tapping his Parker Pen...he realized he struck gold and thought about the surrounding landscape. He wasn't hungry or thirsty, nor did he drink alcohol ever, but he went down to the Hotel Bar, asked Thurston Moore (that's the bartender), "hey...you know...you know what this area is missing a brewpub. A brewpub no one has ever heard about. But a brewpub for someone like us. The casual Geico-Wellpoint Business traveler.
And there we have Granite City Brewery. And off Jasper went to his next anonymous adventure. Never to be seen or heard of again.
The point is...this place feels anonymous. A lack of local-ness. Like...it should be in airport. And, well, I don't want our city to feel like a big airport terminal.
Granite counter tops to make every middle-ager feel right at home.
It's wildy in-style to have beer that isn't named "Budweiser," or even, "Sam Adams," now. Now, we have an anonymous brewer with "specialty beer."
The menu is vast, wide ranging -- covering all tastes traveling into town.
The beer's drinkable, sure, but not as interesting as it thinks it is. Compare it to say...what it seems like it's competitor Rock Bottom...and you'll notice that Rock Bottom has been around long enough to hone the craft where Granite City just seems like a long night of placebo-comfort.
I must say...Irish Sausage in an Italian pasta dish is the boldest political statement of unity that has come out of Indy in some time.
THE REASON TO GO:
$5 pitchers on Thursday Nights! Yes, the hard-to-find deals on Thursdays has been found here. Let the corporate lackeys fill this places pockets to pay their rent, so we have a good Thursday beer deal.
Met up with some friends for lunch on Sunday. We didn't know brunch was the thing for Sundays. You can still order off the regular menu, but our server wasn't overly pleased I wanted to order off the menu. I got a burger with waffle fries and my friends go the brunch.
Burger was BIG but just a pretty standard burger. Fries were good.
My friends enjoyed their bloody mary's (on special) which came with a huge dill pickle and a great price. The brunch buffett had eggs, sausage, waffle station but they had pasta, fresh salads, fruit and soup. They seem to enjoy it but no one really raved it was the best brunch ever.
I think I would like to go back here on a non-brunch featured day to have some drinks more specifically beer and try some other menu items.
This restaurant is conveniently located next to my company's office. When ever I'm in Indy we usually end up having at least one dinner here. They brew their own beers, which is nice; I enjoyed the Two Pull, which is a mix of their Northern Light and their Bock beers.
The menu is pretty average but the portions are huge. The sauce they used on their wings is pretty tasty.
In summary, the beer is decent and the menu is average.
Meh. I won't be going back. There's way better dining options in Indy.
I had the Brother Benedict's Beer Battered Cod, and it wasn't thoroughly cooked so I could taste the unfried breading. The waffle fries tasted like shoestring potato chips from a bag. Portions were enormous, even in these days of supersizing. The desserts were greasy.
I was with a big group, so didn't want to delay the party by sending the meal back. Maybe they'd have done better on a 2nd try. But I'd rather go somewhere next time where they get it right the 1st time.
On a plus side, the service was attentive and we were never left thirsty.
I wanted to not like it here. They are a chain with some 26 operations throughout the Midwest. I will tell you though, it is pretty nice in there. It is a classy looking place, but there is definitely a chain's sterile feel to the place.
Chris, my waiter was fantastic. Very attentive and knowledgeable of the beers. I had a flight of the samples. I have to tell you, the beer was decent. Nothing too awesome, but the IPA and the Stout had some interesting characteristics. And interesting is better than just OK in my book. The flat-bread pizza (oddly shaped purely for novelty and 'so you'll remember us') was nothing to write home about. I had the tomato basil, essentially a Margherita.
So in summation, it is like an Applebee's or a Chile's, but they brew their beer there. Better than Budweiser or Coors for sure, but not quite the ideal.
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