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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The Grind, the McMaster Students Union-run cafe that was added to TwelvEighty in February 2018, has been churning out more cash than its bar and grill counterpart.
According to a report written by Daniel “Tuba” D’Souza, MSU vice president (Finance), to the Student Representative Assembly, the Grind has been earning an average of $1,000 per day. The cafe is expected to increase TwelvEighty’s revenue by 22 per cent and reduce the overall deficit by approximately $100,000 for the upcoming academic year.
“The success of the Grind shows that the student demographic is changing. For the first time in MSU history we will have sold more coffee than alcohol,” read part of the report. “This is something that needs to be seriously considered when looking at the future of TwelvEighty.”
According to D’Souza, universities and colleges across North America have witnessed a similar trend as pubs and bars languish in popularity.
“Today’s students are burdened with debt and are selective of how they spend their money, prioritizing experiences and quality over quantity,” said D’Souza, who believes that campus club culture is not dying, but transforming as students become more conscientious of how and when they spend money on alcohol.
“For the first time in MSU history we will have sold more coffee than alcohol.”
Daniel “Tuba” D’Souza
Vice president (Finance)
McMaster Students Union
D’Souza notes that events such as Homecoming, Light Up The Night and club nights continue to reach maximum capacity, reflecting a continued interest in club culture.
“That volume isn’t replicable throughout the year. From conversations with club promotion companies and past bar owners in the area, students are busy and prioritize school over entertainment more than in past years,” he said.
The Grind’s financial success is also a byproduct of the increasing use of coffee shops as study spaces. In light of the high demand for seating at the Grind, D’Souza has proposed the allocation of funds to renovate the dance floor and staging area of TwelvEighty to expand the cafe.
The proposal still has to be approved by the incoming Student Representative Assembly, and the nuances of it will depend on the plans of next year’s leadership and TwelvEighty’s management.
“TwelvEighty is currently our biggest cost centre but will show marked improvements with the addition of the Grind,” read part of the report.
In his report, D’Souza suggests that TwelvEighty should focus on improving its serving style, menu options, use of technology, ease of ordering and marketing strategy. However, in the report, he does not elaborate on what he means by these areas of improvement.
In his year-plan, D’Souza sought to implement an online ordering system for TwelvEighty. Nevertheless, this promise was abandoned as feasibility and logistical issues emerged in the fall of 2017. Whether or not D’Souza seeks to reintroduce this proposal remains unclear.
What is clear, however, is that the Grind is expected to compensate, at least in part, for TwelvEighty’s lack of profit.
During the cafe’s trial period, which occurred before the Grind officially opened for service, feedback forms were released to students. The main demands were for milk substitutes, which are now available at no cost, and increased seating capacity.
“Currently students love the food options, fresh baked scones and cookies, and the daily crepe specials,” said D’Souza. “With its booming success this year the future of the Grind looks bright with students already asking to expand the space more into TwelvEighty.”
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TwelvEighty Bar & Grill has a fresh new café and study space complete with exposed brick, espresso goodness and plenty of outlets. The grand opening will be after the reading week.
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Since Halloween is a weeklong holiday around Hamilton and McMaster, there’s no shortage of fun events to attend. Halloween falls on a Tuesday this year, so no doubt this upcoming weekend will be filled with spooky events to dress up for (because apparently we have to celebrate starting Thursday and throughout the weekend.)
Party stores are pumping the prices on costumes, and partying in a different costume each night can get expensive. According to the National Retail Federation’s annual survey on Halloween spending habits, this year on average people will spend $86.13 US. And that doesn’t even include nightly festivities, like alcohol or bar cover.
Personally, my favourite part of Halloween is getting creative and making my costumes from scratch. So for those who are planning on partying multiple times this weekend and don’t want to shell out money on multiple expensive costumes, I’ve got you covered with cheap, easy DIY costumes that will be sure to make an impression at any McMaster-adjacent Halloween event
If you’re having trouble finding cheap materials, I suggest Value Village, Dollarama, the Campus Store, and Bunz Trading Zone.
Marauder Football Player. Re-use your homecoming outfit, or buy a jersey from the campus store and you’re instantly a Marauder Football Player! Bruise up your face to look fresh out of rookie training, and if you’re committed, puff your shoulders all night to make you look more intimidating than you actually are!
What you’ll need:
A Party. “Cause baby you’re the life of the party…” If you’re looking for the most low energy costume there is, grab some streamers and red solo cups from the corner store and pin them to your entire body. Realistically, your costume will be a disaster by the end of the night, but that’s just commitment to character.
What you’ll need:
Terri, the dancing Tim Hortons lady. Pay tribute to one of McMaster’s best Terri, the dancing Tim Horton’s employee from the student center. Bring a Timmy’s coffee cup to house your choice beverage for the evening, and do her winning dance whenever you or your friends win at beer pong or need to celebrate.
What you’ll need:
Spotted at Mac. Transform yourself into the iconic student anonymous Facebook page by covering yourself in maroon spots and being everyone’s secret keeper for the night. Relay anonymous messages to and from people at the party and play cupid (or the devil) behind the scenes. For extra effect, start questionably controversial debates with a group of people and slowly walk away to let disaster ensue.
What you’ll need:
TwelvEighty Night + security guard. For the couples who are looking for a cute, matching costume this Halloween, a TwelvEighty night out and security guard is the easiest bang for your buck. One of you can adorn whatever you wear (or used to wear) to TwelvEighty, and the other can be the bouncer.
What you’ll need:
Sobi Bike. Be the chang(ed) (gear) that you want to see in the world. If you’re a fan of our blue transport cycles, then being one for Halloween is a great option. If you’re feeling flirtatious, you can even offer rides.
What you’ll need:
HSR Bus Driver. If you’re planning on showing up to the party really late, or maybe even not at all, this costume for you!
What you’ll need:
What are you planning on being this upcoming weekend?
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By: Janelle Hanson
A rebuttal to “Why TwelvEighty club nights are no longer lit” from the Feb. 2 issue:
The execution of TwelveEighty club nights has never changed – including the lighting and ambiance presented every Thursday night.
It is hard to understand how it has coincidentally become a problem now. Many clubs all over the GTA present the same type of dim-to-dark lighting that simultaneously promote said inconspicuousness.
It is a disrespectful and egoistic claim to insult the appearance of the person you are dancing with.
Refrain from blaming the lighting when your drunken goggles are the real reason for you misinterpreting the visuals of a face that’s been in front of you for an entire night.
In agreement, the music selection has not been the greatest over the last few months. However, TwelvEighty is employed by undergraduate students, (a rule implemented by the MSU), it is only possible to hire selected DJs. Due to the collaboration with Campus Events and the reduced number of club nights left within the year, we can now employ DJs who exceed the undergraduate title, and provide a wider range of music to accommodate the musical interests of all students.
An average Thursday night at TwelvEighty consists of $2.00 coat check, $4.50 cover (or $2.00 before 11pm), and $4.25 drink. That brings you to a cumulative amount of $10.75. Now, lets compare a Thursday night at Trust. This consists of $10.00 cover, $3.00 coat check, and $6.00 drink, a total amount of $19.00. At TwelvEighty, you can buy two more drinks for the price of Trust’s cover.
Prior to the collaboration with Campus Events, TwelvEighty was limited in the space we had to put up promotional posters, and market our club nights. To counter the previous argument, McMaster’s Student Centre is the central hub of the university. That being said, it makes perfect sense for promotional posters to be placed in this strategic space. With the help of additional campus services, you will see more promotion.
By: Axel Stueckmann
McMaster Students Union Campus Events decided to reduce the number of TwelvEighty’s Thursday club nights until the end of the year. Under this new schedule, there are six dates left in the schedule for the semester: Feb. 2 and 16, March 2, 16 and 17 (St. Patrick’s Day) and April 6 (Light Up the Night).
TwelvEighty club nights used to be a staple cemented firmly in McMaster culture. With the decline of the bar’s quality over time and how few dates are left, I have serious doubts about its direction and its ability to live up to expectations. The TwelvEighty I remember begged the question of why not to go, rather than the current negative perceptions about it. It was an atmosphere that provided fun rather than insisting you create it yourself. There are a few key pitfalls that have turned the bar into the epitome of poor management, marketing and a failure to connect with a massive student body.
Aesthetics
It is inconceivable to me that someone planned the rayless lighting system employed at this bar without the foresight to predict why and how it would be bad for the TwelvEighty experience. Numerous friends have had tense encounters with attempted drugging, creepy onlookers and unsolicited advances. Many people simply do not feel safe as the lack of light hides nefarious intentions and promotes inconspicuousness.
While the entire area is poorly lit, even seedier corners lined with black couches worsen the situation even more. It can also be petrifying to see the person you have been dancing with in actual light when they in no way resemble the image you held in your head.
Music
Who is the music at TwelvEigh-ty for? I undoubtedly have hearing loss from the loud blaring of some amateur DJ over the overly-powerful speakers. Play music people actually want to hear. While things like country nights and the annual Battle of the Bands event are good starts, TwelvEighty still needs to mix it up more from the EDM stereotypes. Every successful bar has a wide variety of musical tastes to cater to a large amount of people. TwelvEighty can easily work towards engaging more of the student population and their diverse music preferences.
Price
A few years ago, I pitched the idea of dollar beer night to a friend at the MSU. A year after that recommendation, Ora, an Italian kitchen and bar in Hess, coincidentally began to provide dollar beer nights. Why should I go to TwelvEighty instead?
Hamilton has a thriving nightclub and bar scene readily available with a bus drive. Until TwelvEighty provides experiences that are worth the price, it is simply too difficult to compete with cheaper or better alternatives. Instead of bartenders playing games on their phone in an empty bar, put them to work and have them pour some drinks. If every Thursday was just a bit cheaper, I guarantee that more students would go.
Promotion
No one likes the annoying, intrusive and often cringeworthy social media posts concocted by self-important club promoters, but people need to know that you exist.
TwelvEighty’s Facebook posts have an incredibly small amount of engagement.Unskillfully designed posters that litter an already-cluttered student center does not constitute a groundbreaking marketing strategy. Get the word out there that events are taking place, or no one will come.
It is easy to pick apart TwelvEighty’s downfall in retrospect, but I firmly believe these are all avoidable and fixable issues. If management has chosen to make changes you disagree with or remain complacent not fixing issues, voice your opinions.
If a few people strive to make change, we can all look forward to fun on campus comparable with the atmosphere found in other university towns.
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McMaster clubs now have more than Paradise Catering to choose from when ordering food for events on campus.
Given the success of the pilot project launched in Jan. 2014, TwelvEighty, the Student Union Bar and Grill will continue to offer a catering menu for smaller events on campus.
This pilot was introduced as part of the McMaster Student Union's ongoing efforts to address the problems stemming from the Paradise Catering monopoly that was established in 1999.
The agreement between the MSU and Paradise Catering gave Paradise Catering exclusive rights to the lucrative catering business on campus. The agreement also created restrictions on bake sales and potlucks on campus.
Exactly what clubs are and are not allowed to do is ambiguous, but the MSU club guide states that “all catering to facilities within MUSC must be ordered through Paradise Catering. Departments may host potluck meals, but attendance must be under 20 guests and food must be brought by attendees. Nothing may be delivered or ordered from an external source.”
Despite the fact that this new menu has been around for over nine months, many clubs are unaware that it exists or still have to resort to Paradise Catering because of the other parts of the agreement, such as room rental deals.
For example, last semester Tahiya Bakht, a fourth-year political science student, had to partner with another club on campus to be able to afford the cheapest Paradise Catering food option.
“We needed to use Paradise catering because of the deal that allowed us the use of a room with the use of Paradise Catering, but the cheapest option ended up being $530” said Bahkt. Her club was lucky to find a group willing to take on some of the cost, but many clubs may find Paradise prices to be a barrier to hosting events of a certain type or size.
Generally, club executives seem to be enthusiastic about the new options.
“I only recently found out that TwelvEighty offers catering for student groups. I would definitely feature their catering options at future club events,” said Asha Behdinan, a fourth-year student.
Although TwelvEighty currently offers a very limited catering menu to clubs, they plan to potentially expand.
“Is this catering menu the be all and end all of what TwelvEighty can offer? Absolutely not. In terms of catering, the possibilities are endless,” said Food and Beverage manager Richard Haja. “We have a large array of menu options that we can customize to fit any budget, any dietary restriction, or any multicultural palate. As for the future, we might add more options to the catering menu, but that is on the agenda for January 2015.”
Although the catering options at TwelvEighty address the price barrier of the monopoly, other problems stemming from the agreement persist.
The agreement limits MUSC to hosting one bake sale per day, and it remains unclear exactly what type of potlucks are allowed. The MSU Clubs Coordinator did not respond to requests for comment on the issue.
This monopoly is not unique to McMaster; it is common at campus universities for one provider to have contracted the food system. Although it may be an annoyance to clubs, with the TwelvEighty catering menu, clubs are beginning to have ways to get around the troubles with Paradise.
Patrick Kim
The Silhouette
TwelvEighty has been approved for a new $7,000 permanent drape system, with the goal of improving its dining and catering services.
The SRA passed the motion brought forth by VP (Finance) Jeffrey Doucet with a near unanimous vote on Feb. 9. The proposal involves a permanent installation of a retractable pipe and drape system that will separate the restaurant from the open dance floor.
Kaley Stuart, TwelvEighty’s Service Manager, said that this will be the largest addition to TwelvEighty since she took the reigns of the restaurant.
“We’re pretty excited about it, because when we’re open as a restaurant we can just keep that area divided and make the restaurant feel less massive,” she said.
The cost is expected to cover both the purchase of the drapes as well as the installation being done by AVTEK. The drapes will be black and will employ roller gliders to retract quickly and allow staff to set up and take away the drapes easily.
Campus events at TwelvEighty currently require drapes to be manually set up to partition the event from the restaurant. Stuart explained that each event requires anywhere from six to eight hours to set up the partitions.
“Instead of us paying the wages for somebody to come in and put the pipe and drape up every single time, it will be a permanent fixture that can be pulled out and pulled back,” she said.
The drape walls will also have built-in noise insulation, which will help TwelvEighty expand its catering service, which recently released its latest menu.
According to Doucet, this will “address the awkward dynamic that there is at TwelvEighty right now when there is a catered event operating during restaurant hours.”
“The lack of a physical barrier ruins the intimacy of the catered event, and more importantly, it allows sound to travel from the restaurant to the catered event,” he said
While the drape walls will be pulled back for club nights and other social events held at TwelvEighty, the drapes are otherwise expected to become a permanent addition to the setting of the restaurant. Drawing from the use of similar drapes at previous events, Doucet stated, “We have received very positive feedback about how it looks.”
In addition to providing a more intimate setting for events, Stuart also described the possibility of the space becoming a casual study and eating location for students to use.
“Once the area is sealed off, then the rest of the week it can be used for pretty much anything… The more people we get in and out of our doors, the more useful we are to the student population.”
The drape wall is planned to be installed by the end of March.
That the MSU’s finances ended up in the black this year has got to be a relief.
The students union is only a few years removed from deep operating losses. The 2007-08 and 2008-09 financial statements combined for what were then record shortfalls of more than $500,000. That included a campus bar – called Quarters before it underwent an approximately $400,000 facelift to become TwelvEighty in 2009 – that lost a total of almost $780,000.
The following year, the deficit skyrocketed to a loss of $958,190, roughly two-thirds of which was the responsibility of a failing student health insurance plan.
But the 2011-12 audited financial statements, which were passed and made public at the Sept. 30 Student Representative Assembly meeting, showed an issue of another kind. The not-for-profit MSU collected close to a million dollars more in student fees than it spent last year.
What is supposed to be a break-even organization wasn’t intended to make near that amount of money. A $150,000 loss in 2010-11 was budgeted to improve to a modest surplus of just over $120,000 in the year that followed.
“If we’re continuously posting profits, that’s an issue. Obviously, the larger they are, the more of an issue it is,” said Jeff Wyngaarden, Vice-President (Finance) of the MSU.
A few things went right. TwelvEighty cut its losses down to roughly $71,000 from $200,000 the year before. Underground Media & Design boosted its profits by more than a hundred thousand dollars. Losses on MSU services decreased in a few departments, and the health and dental plans went from being budgetary burdens to small sources of extra cash.
“In any one given year, breaking even may not be a good thing. Coming off of four years of substantial losses, posting a profit isn’t a major concern,” said Wyngaarden.
But now that a portion of the losses have been recuperated, there are areas of the budget where student fees are, at least for now, unnecessarily high.
CFMU posted a profit of more than $150,000. The campus radio station receives a set levy via the MSU annually, and has consistently spent well below their allotment in recent years.
The plan, according to Wyngaarden, is to increase spending in order to bring expenditures closer to revenues in the CFMU Fund. An expansion of programming and more emphasis on community outreach are in store.
The MSU has also switched providers for its student health insurance plan. The student fee for the plan now exceeds the actual cost by about ten dollars per student. That money will stockpile into a reserve fund for the time being.
Wyngaarden also hopes to work with the SRA’s finance committee to establish a strategic reserve fund, into which future surpluses would go.
“Right now, when we make money, it just gets put in the bank, more or less, and it sits there for a rainy day. What I’d like to do is earmark that money as a strategic reserve, and that’s mostly putting a name to what we already have,” he said.
“We’d have that set aside, and then set a policy-based plan for making profit if we’ve had a loss in previous year or having a loss if we’ve made a profit in previous years.”
The MSU spent a total of over $12.5 million last year on its operations. Almost half of that amount came from fees charged to full-time undergraduate students.
