Granite City Food & Brewery

Granite City Food & BreweryGranite City Food & Brewery
Granite City Food & BreweryGranite City Food & Brewery
Brewery, Bar, Eatery, Beer-to-go

230 Conference Center Dr
East Peoria, Illinois, 61611-9501
United States

// CLOSED //
BEER STATS
Average:
3.33
Beers:
48
Ratings:
1,464
Linked Beer Listing
PLACE STATS
Average:
3.7
Reviews:
6
Ratings:
12
pDev:
29.46%
View: Beers | Place Reviews
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
Ratings by Chi-fly:
Photo of Chi-fly
Rated by Chi-fly from Illinois

4.25/5  rDev +14.9%

Dec 11, 2013
More User Ratings:
Photo of Billolick
Reviewed by Billolick from New York

3.64/5  rDev -1.6%
vibe: 3.5 | quality: 3.75 | service: 3.75 | selection: 3.5 | food: 3.5
Larger joint, strange and kinda cold feel to the joint. Large dining area with high cielings and a seperate bar area....located a bit out of the way and surrounded by some large and ilfeless parking lots. Not much character in general.

The offer 5 of their own on tap and 2 guest taps...fermenters and brewery equipment viewable, so I suppose they pump out their own beer here. All of the beer tried were solidly middle of the road.

Food was passable and service to match...would not be the first place I checked out in the Peoria area
Oct 08, 2019
 
Rated: 3.83 by porters4life from Illinois

Nov 12, 2018
Photo of Vondy08
Rated by Vondy08 from Illinois

3.46/5  rDev -6.5%
vibe: 3.75 | quality: 3 | service: 3 | selection: 4.25 | food: 3.75
I like their beers but I don't like the wait time.
May 12, 2015
 
Rated: 3.25 by NateMac13 from Illinois

Nov 07, 2014
 
Rated: 3.5 by WestHam973 from Illinois

Oct 24, 2014
 
Rated: 3 by cardinals22 from Illinois

Aug 15, 2014
Photo of Redrover
Reviewed by Redrover from Wisconsin

3.65/5  rDev -1.4%
vibe: 3.5 | quality: 4 | service: 3.5 | selection: 3.5 | food: 3.5
I was able to stop by twice during my latest visit trip to Peoria. The Granite is located in a newer development in East Peoria. It is located next to the river and the convention center.

As you enter, the bar is on your right and the dinning area is off to your left. The tanks are behind glass in the dinning area. They have a patio that overlooks the river and it would be a great spot to watch the barges and boats go by. The interior features lots of cultured fieldstone, wood, good light fixtures and has a nice color scheme of light orange and brown.

The music is programmed by their hq and is a strange mix of light metal, 70's and 80's pop and bad covers.

They have a large menu with lots of appetizers, salads, sandwiches and dinner entrees. I thought the food was decent but not world beating.

The service is a mixed bag. When my party of three arrived there were empty tables everywhere but we still had to get a beeper and wait more than 10 minutes for a table. I think they were a bit understaffed. Our waitress was very nice but was way busy and had to many tables to handle. In fact, they had the brewer out delivering food. Perhaps some folks didn't show-up or maybe they didn't count on the crowds. However, when I sat at the bar, I had very good service from the three bartenders. They were outstanding!

They offer 5 regular beers and 2 seasonals/rotators. Note on Tuesdays they offer growler refills for $5.00. This is a great deal and there are lots of customers taking advantage. The bartenders are very free with samples, so if your not sure, just ask for a taste. The bar is big on mixing their beers and even have one called the "three headed monster which is 3 beer mixed together. The beers run from ok (the stout) to very good (the pale ale). They also have a very popular mug club.

Not a bad stop if your on the east side of town.
Mar 31, 2010
Photo of dismal
Reviewed by dismal from Illinois

4.13/5  rDev +11.6%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4 | selection: 3.5 | food: 5
Went here for an early birthday dinner with the family. It was my first time coming here so I was excited to try their food but most importantly their beer. The atmosphere was pretty good. It wasn't to busy while we were their so I don't know how loud it gets in there but we were able to have decent conversation with quite a few tables around us. Probably could have had a few more tvs in better locations but it wasn't a big deal. The service was good or so I thought. Some other people in my party didn't agree but being in the food/restaurant business I'm a little more tolerable and patient with service. Service wise our food and drinks came in a pretty timely fashion. Our waiter forgot a little thing here or two but when we flagged him down he got it right away so I thought service wasn't bad. As for the beer, I thought it was some pretty good stuff. They only had their beers available on draft which was fine with me. They had an IPA, a bock,a stout, and a lager. I started off with the IPA which I thought was pretty good. I finished rather quick and decided to try their stout. It was an Irish Dy Stout which reminded me a lot of Guinness on draft, good stuff though just as was the IPA. The food was excellent. Everyone in our party loved their meal. A bit pricey, but I'd really say it was worth it. On the way out I stopped by the bar to ask about their growlers. The bartender was really friendly and let us sample all their beers plus some mixed beers which were really great. Ended up getting a growler of the IPA, decent price I thought. Overall I think the food and beer made it a worthwhile trip. I'll be back again for sure...it's just to bad I don't live closer so i could make trips more often to refill the growler. Good place though, I'd recommend.
May 05, 2009
Photo of Vixie
Reviewed by Vixie from Florida

4.18/5  rDev +13%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4 | service: 4.5 | selection: 4 | food: 4
Visited on a Sunday afternoon, my third visit here. Always enjoy coming here, the place is nice and bright with nice decor. Were seated promptly, and our waitress wasn't long in coming.

Good service, they seemed interested in helping explain beers and anything you had questions about. The beer and food weren't long in coming, and both were good. I do think the prices for food are a touch high for this area, although the beer is reasonably priced. Food here is good, and decent sized portions.

At one point the manager stopped by to make sure everything was good, and didn't mind stopping to talk beer for a few minutes. Service here has always been good.

Beers here are about average, but the atmosphere and class of the place makes it nice to visit, and the good and wide variety of menu options means I'll be coming back again.
Mar 16, 2008
Photo of ajmoody76
Reviewed by ajmoody76 from Illinois

3.98/5  rDev +7.6%
vibe: 3.5 | quality: 3.5 | service: 4.5 | selection: 4 | food: 4.5
for starters- i am not a fan of navigating around the area in which this place is. engineering nightmare. also, the parking is currently atrocious. looks like they may add additional parking or they could add another business there and they will have to bus people there from wal-mart. however, it was worth the visit. chain brew pub type of place. i guess they brew the beer in minnesota and ship it to the brew pub and ferment it and serve it. nice atmosphere. pretty noisy though, as is with the christmas season. the place was packed. we had a waiter from one of the stores in nebraska. he was in town for a week helping out due to some short staffing issues. he was great. pretty good selection of beers and food. i had the seasonal scottish ale. good beer. to eat i had the prosciutto olive flatbread pizza. wonderful. was there with my wife, son and my p's. no complaints from anyone. the kids menu was ok. the usual suspects represented. pretty reasonably priced. it is about 40+ minutes from home so will probably not get back for quite some time. also, i will not miss driving around there.
Dec 25, 2007
Photo of mportsch
Reviewed by mportsch from Illinois

3.55/5  rDev -4.1%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 2 | food: 4.5
This location of the Granite City chain opened a couple weeks ago in East Peoria, and I've been there twice already. The first visit was on a Sunday afternoon for lunch and beers with my wife. We grabbed a booth in the bar, which is very comfortable - stone columns and wood made my wife say that the bar area reminded her of places we visited at Lake Tahoe, which I can sorta see. Very relaxing and comfortable on a Sunday afternoon, with good music keeping the atmosphere casual and fun.
Large plasma TVs line the back of the bar, and it appears that there will be an outdoor patio seating area for use in the summer, with good views of the Illinois River and downtown Peoria. I'll definitely be checking that out once warm weather returns to central Illinois...
On our other visit, we went with another couple on a Friday night, and it was PACKED. We waited about an hour for our table, and there wasn't really enough room in the bar for everyone waiting. We found a spot to stand and tried to stay out of the way. Eventually we were seated in the dining area, which is quite large and overlooks the kitchen, visible through a large panel window.
As for the beer, they had their four standard taps - bock, IPA, stout, and light lager. They also market a "two-pull", which is a blend of the bock and light lager. My wife enjoyed the two-pull, and I started with the bock. It was very solid and drinkable. Next was the stout... also very solid, with just enough flavor to keep it interesting. On my evening visit, I tried the IPA and was actually surprised with its hoppiness. None of the beers will blow you away, but all are drinkable and flavorful. I was told that normally they have a fifth tap for a seasonal, but since they just opened, they missed the window for getting the Oktoberfest.
The food has been excellent on my visits, with large portions for reasonable prices. My wife and I got two appetizers and two cups of soup for lunch and couldn't even finish it all (which is not normal for us!). The menu is very large with a lot of variety (both in cuisine and prices).
As far as value, I find the prices very reasonable, both for food and beer. If you expect to visit a Granite City more than 4 or 5 times, the Mug Club is a must. For $20, you're a lifetime member, and your first beer is included in the membership cost. From that point forward, you get 25oz beers for $3.25 (normally 20oz for $4), and you also get 10% off all food purchases. After two visits, I've probably saved $8-9, so it's easy to see how the mug club can pay itself off pretty quickly. Plus it's always nice to get the big mug!
All in all, I was pleasantly surprised by Granite City. I figured the beers would be dumbed down for the masses, but they were all tasty enough to keep me happy for the evening. I have a feeling this location will do very well over the next few years.
Nov 15, 2007
Granite City Food & Brewery in East Peoria, IL
Brewery rating: 3.33 out of 5 with 1464 ratings