Today on the Bite Tonight: Granite City Food & Brewery
Located on Big Beaver Rd. right off I-75 is Granite City Food & Brewery. This brewery has come a long way, from 1999, when Granite City first opened it’s doors in Minnesota, to 2014, now operating 30 restaurants in 13 different states. See how they ranked.
Atmosphere: 4 out of 5 bites
Price: 3.5 out of 5 bites
Quality/Taste: 2.5 out of 5 bites
Service: 4.5 out of 5 bites
Wow factor: 3 out of 5 bites
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Granite City had this neat little brew menu that creatively described each beer. Josh went with the Northern Light Lager: Light, clean cut, and refreshing. This was better than a Bud, Miller, or Labatt!
While we were waiting for our order, the manager heard it was our first time visiting and welcome us and offered soup samples.
Northern Light Cheddar & Ale (pictured on left): Creamy cheddar cheese soup simmered with our Northern Light lager. Our favorite! Smooth, cheesy, with a light nutty ale touch. This was not overpowering as some beer soups tend to be.
Cream of Potato Bacon (pictured on right): Creamy potato soup with bacon and cheddar cheese. Pretty spot on for a creamy potato soup.
Maple Pepper Bacon & Tomato Pizza: Maple pepper bacon, sliced tomatoes, fresh basil, mozzarella and parmesan cheese with our signature garlic aioli. This was a nice change from your typical pizza sauced pie. The garlic aioli was subtle, yet present. The maple pepper bacon was decadent and delicious! I substituted the tomato for sliced red pepper and it was a good choice. There’s something about warm tomato that I don’t care for. The crust was chewy, yet crispy.
Cajun Pasta: Chicken, andouille sausage, red and green peppers and onions simmered in a creamy parmesan cheese sauce with a hint of bourbon. This dish started off really good and flavorful. After a few bites, Josh noticed a nice sized pool of grease in the bottom of the bowl. We assumed it was from the sausage, but it was too much to stomach. Our server was really cool and offered another option. This was unfortunate because the dish was really good and the creamy parmesan sauce was awesome and spicy from the cajun spice.
Josh went with the Adult Mac & Cheese: Alfredo sauce, pepper jack and cheddar cheeses simmered with our Brother Benedict’s Bock then finished with penne pasta, chicken, red pepper, bacon and toasted breadcrumbs. Unfortunately, this dish was a bust as well. Presentation was good, but it lacked flavor. Also, I think the kitchen was in a hurry to get this back out to our table, because the Alfredo sauce was thin, runny, and didn’t stick to the pasta. There wasn’t much chicken either and we had a hard time telling the difference between chicken and breadcrumbs because the pieces were so small.
Service and the beer was good, but we didn’t have good luck with the food. I do like how the manager came over to address the dishes and our server did a great job handling the issue. The overall atmosphere was really nice, with an upscale brewery feel and a unique menu that is constantly featuring fresh, new items.
The Bite Tonight 