Carmel, IN - Granite City Food & Brewery [Chain]

There was a building being built not far from where I grew up, but didn't know what it was. The location used to be a cornfield and an old Marathon that was torn down about 10 years ago. The land was sold and was not being used for a few years. There was a big office building and a parking garage put up not too long ago then this new building.

After some sleuthing, I heard it was a restaurant. Ok. Cool I guess. Then I heard that it was going to be a brewery! Badass! Hell ya to Carmel's first brewery! This brewery, part of an upscale chain from Minneapolis, was the 26th location and opened February 11th. Granite City sounds way better than Pebble Town or Gravel Village.

The opening was posted to Reuters and they had some great things to say about Indy's best city:
"Carmel was listed as one of the top ten places to live in the Midwest by Money
magazine because of its high quality of life. With excellent schools, safe
neighborhoods, an award winning public library and an expanded park system, the
City has attracted more than 40 corporate headquarters to Carmel. Its Meridian
Street Corridor is home to the second highest concentration of workers in the
state."~Reuters¹

That aside, we were there on opening day. There were a lot of managers around and everyone was helping everyone so service was great. They said things were crazy and there was a lot going on wrong behind the scenes but we couldn't notice.

They tout low prices for high quality and this showed in their food (awesome!). They are definitely more of a food establishment over beer however. On the downside, they only have 4 unique beers (and one seasonal) and 2 drinks that are a combination of two beers (not bad) and the beers are not made on site. The beers are pretty good, but nothing that blows my mind. The deserts definitely do though.

That being said, I am psyched to finally have a brewery in Carmel, and they are definitely worth going to. I would rate them as a B until they have more beers on tap.

Granite City Food & Brewery
150 W. 96th St.
Indianapolis, IN 46290
317.218.7185