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.
Each of these people are very public-facing figures who played a significant role on campus.
Jovan Popovic
President, McMaster Students Union
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.
I tailored this meal to be inclusive of dietary needs by ensuring it is free of many common allergens!
Miguel Gonzales (DJ Migz)
Recent Graduate, Honours Kinesiology
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.
Tim Hortons in Mary Keyes and MDCL close after franchise agreement ends
Earlier this September, McMaster University witnessed a number of changes to its campus dining options. Second Cup has replaced the Tim Hortons located in Bistro-2-go at Mary E. Keyes Residence, and the one at the Michael Degroote Centre for Learning has been replaced by Café One.
Previously, Tim Hortons in Bistro-2-go served a limited range of hot and cold beverages alongside baked goods as an express store. With its closure, Second Cup has taken over, introducing a menu that includes seasonal and specialty.
Meanwhile, Café One in MDCL, located where a self-serve Tim Hortons station previously was, now serves Ethical Bean Coffee. The familiar Tim Hortons logo has been replaced with McMaster Hospitality Service.
Hufriya Kateli-Saxena, Manager of Communications and Marketing for Hospitality Services, discussed these changes in an interview with the Silhouette.
“The franchise agreements were up for both locations, and at that time, Tim Hortons did not want to renew the franchise agreements … the MDCL and Bistro stores were kind of express stores, and that isn’t the business model that Tim Hortons is following anymore,” said Kateli-Saxena.
The franchise agreements were up for both locations, and at that time Tim Hortons did not want to renew the franchise agreements … the MDCL and Bistro stores were kind of express stores, and that isn’t the business model that Tim Hortons is following anymore.
Hufriya Kateli-Saxena, Manager
Communications and Marketing for Hospitality Services
Additionally, Kateli-Saxena mentioned that the senior leadership team within McMaster Hospitality Services also made the decision to close the Tim Hortons locations after considering various other factors. They reviewed independent student feedback surveys and consulted with other Ontario universities to enhance the student dining experience.
Kateli-Saxena noted that positive feedback from the First Year Dining Committee and First Year Council regarding the Second Cup kiosk at Peter George Centre for Living and Learning influenced their decision.
"The Second Cup has done very well in Peter George, is well appreciated, and is also a potential factor that can weigh into a decision being made," Kateli-Saxena said.
Despite the closures of these two locations, McMaster students can still purchase Tim Hortons on campus in the McMaster University Student Centre.
If you have walked into TwelvEighty or Bridges Café since school started, you might have noticed some significant changes from last year. Both campus restaurants have introduced new menu items, seeking to expand the types of foods offered and introduce fresh takes on typical campus foods.
TwelvEighty, the bar and grill situated in the basement of the student centre, is known for its affordable restaurant-quality foods and campus nightlife events. TwelvEighty usually swaps six or seven menu items at the beginning of each year. This year, however, 16 items were added.
“This is the first time we have majorly renovated the menu for about five years,” said food and beverage manager Richard Haja. “So this year we did quite a large revamp.”
The restaurant held focus groups before the year began to test out new items on potential customers.
Haja is particularly excited about the addition of vegetarian bowls, which consist of a mix of vegetables to which a variety of protein options, such as chicken or tofu, can be added. According to Haja, these have garnered a very positive student response thus far.
“It’s kind of on trend right now,” said Haja. “The bowls themselves are all in the $6.99 range. That’s one of the cheapest values on campus because it alone as a vegetarian option in some cases is by far the cheapest you’ll find around.”
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Other new items include various desserts, a jerk chicken club wrap and macaroni and cheese balls. TwelvEighty has been working to add more vegetarian, halal and gluten-free options. Haja says that the ethnic diversity of McMaster has inspired the chefs to appeal to a wider variety of tastes and cultures.
“It’s not just the individual’s ethnicity,” said Haja. “It’s that people are traveling and people are experiencing new tastes and new cultures, so they’re almost expecting those flavours to be in their everyday life now.”
Along with a culinary revamp, TwelvEighty has undergone a physical transformation. In addition to opening The Grind last year, TwelvEighty renovated its floor. It is also considering the addition of seating spaces.
Like TwelvEighty, Bridges Café has also recently redesigned its menu, adding ten new options for customers this year.
Currently, Bridges Café is the only campus restaurant that exclusively serves vegetarian and vegan options. The new items include vegan sloppy joes, vegan pad thai and crispy avocado halves.
Director of McMaster Hospitality Services Chris Roberts said that the menu changes were made with the growing diversity of McMaster in mind.
Bridges is also experiencing its fifteenth anniversary in Jan. 2019. To celebrate the milestone, the café is adding highlights from the past fifteen years back to its menu.
Ultimately, Roberts is pleased with the changes. Bridges had record sales during opening week and Roberts says that student feedback on the rebranding has been positive.
Bridges remains committed to providing quality vegetarian and vegan food for many on campus at the same standard prices. With these new changes, Roberts hopes that even more students, particularly non-vegetarians, will come in for a meal.
“We hope the new branding and menu will attract a new customer base, one that has not traditionally eaten plant-based foods,” said Roberts. “We want to encourage a healthier, more nutritious diet for students. You no longer have to be a vegetarian to enjoy plant-based foods. It’s a lifestyle choice now.”
As students have been getting settled in to the rhythm of classes, TwelvEighty and Bridges have been spicing things up by offering fresh foods and environments for Mac students.
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