MSU's TwelvEighty restaurant introduces student-inspired specials

TwelvEighty Bar and Grill releases three new ambassador meal specials, designed by prominent students of the McMaster community

On Feb. 24, 2025, TwelvEighty Bar and Grill and the McMaster Students Union announced three new ambassador meal specials to their menu, designed in partnership with prominent student figures. These meals, available until the end of the current academic year, were developed with input from student ambassadors and created by TwelvEighty’s chef, Wes Chaplin.

In an interview, MSU president Jovan Popovic and MSU food and beverage manager Mike Asquith shared details about the initiative’s purpose.

According to Popovic, the initiative aims to highlight students who are active in the McMaster community.

“We were looking for prominent people on campus, people that a vast majority of the students would be able to connect with, relate to, know or have heard of . . . Each of these people are very public-facing figures who played a significant role on campus . . . these are people who are very well accomplished and all their roots come back to this university and this campus,” said Popovic.

The first ambassador meal introduced on TwelvEighty’s Instagram was Maxime Gratton’s breakfast burger. The Gratton Breakfast Burger features a four-ounce beef patty, sunny-side egg, onion rings, bacon, potato hickory sticks and chilli aioli on a toasted brioche bun, served with a choice of a side.

Gratton, a fifth-year psychology student and player for the men’s volleyball team, has contributed to three OUA championship wins. He is also the founder of Airtime Athletics, a training program for young athletes. He is known for sharing volleyball clips on his Instagram, which has over 4,000 followers.

The second ambassador meal introduced was Mackenzie Barwell’s Poke Bowl. Barwell, a fourth-year communications and political science student, has worked in sports media at McMaster as an in-game host for the Marauders and is the creator of the Marauder Mondays video series. She has also collaborated with organizations like Forge FC, the World University Games and Canada Basketball.

The Mac Barwell Bowl includes tuna, rice, guacamole, tomato, edamame, green onion, carrots, pickled red cabbage, corn, poke sauce and sesame seeds.

The last ambassador meal introduced was Miguel Gonzales’s DJ Migz Mix. Gonzales, also known as DJ Migz, is a recent graduate from the honours kinesiology program with 12 years of DJing experience. He has performed for campus events, including Homecoming 2024 and Welcome Week concerts.

His DJ Migz Mix includes blackened chicken, Cajun rice, sautéed onion and peppers, cheese, corn, lettuce, sour cream, salsa, guacamole and lime. A side of chips and salsa can also be purchased for an additional $2.

In an Instagram post, DJ Migz stated that his ambassador meal is gluten-free and chipotle-inspired.

“As someone with many allergies, I tailored this meal to be inclusive of dietary needs by ensuring it is free of many common allergens! Many of the ingredients are also easily substitutable to be able to accommodate any further restrictions,” stated Migz.

Asquith described the initiative as an opportunity to test new menu items with direct student involvement.

“It gives us a great test for new items to see if maybe this is something we could add in the future as a more permanent fix,” said Asquith.

The student ambassadors provided general descriptions of what they wanted their dishes to include. TwelvEighty’s chef, Wes, refined the concepts into final menu items.

Popovic mentioned that most of the ingredients used in the dishes were already available in the kitchen, which minimized the need to source additional ingredients and ensured that meals could be easily incorporated into the existing menu.

“While we needed the creative vision from Wes to really make these actual dishes, it was fully inspired by the direction that the students gave us,” said Popovic.

Asquith mentioned that TwelvEighty aims to collaborate more with student groups and clubs. He noted that the restaurant is also diversifying its menu, with a growing focus on cultural variety, which it plans to continue.

“We are trying to show this year that we’re open to anything. We just need to make the right connections and do it well,” said Asquith.

The new menu items are available to order both in person and ahead on TwelvEighty’s website. They will be available until the end of the winter 2025 semester.