Behind the Scenes at Kontraloop - Making a Competitive Social Venue Work in Real Life

Occupying 2,500 sqm inside one of Croatia’s busiest shopping centres, Kontraloop brings together bowling, darts, arcade games, casual dining, a high-volume bar and a rolling programme of events under one roof.

It’s deliberately inclusive, welcoming families, couples, groups, tourists, and corporate bookings alike, from morning coffee through to late-night play. Importantly, it’s also the first venue of its kind in Croatia, introducing competitive socialising at a scale and quality level the local market hadn’t seen before.

But while design and guest-facing experiences are what visitors notice, the real story sits behind the scenes. Making a venue of this scale and complexity work in real life requires more than a strong concept. It demands operational clarity and a deep understanding of how guests behave once the doors open.

TGP International’s operations team, Ivan, Samantha, and Ryan, were central to translating the project's aspirations into reality.

The Kontraloop Challenge

Kontraloop operates multiple games, food service, bar operations and events in parallel, serving guests with very different needs and intentions.

On any given day, this may include families celebrating children’s birthdays in the morning, couples dropping in for coffee or lunch, groups of friends playing competitively in the afternoon, tourists passing through the mall, and corporate teams arriving for pre-booked evening events.

Operationally, this means managing:

• High energy alongside long dwell times and high turnover
• Sharp peaks and softer troughs across dayparts
• Constant footfall pressure from the surrounding shopping centre
• The need to keep the experience fresh and exciting without breaking the system

Crucially, operations at Kontraloop are required to be effectively invisible. Guests should move, play, eat and socialise without ever feeling the machinery working behind the scenes.

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Making the Venue Flow in Real Life

“On paper, Kontraloop’s layout is clear and intuitive. In reality, guest behaviour always rewrites the plan.

I’ve been involved from the project’s earliest stages, focusing on understanding how people actually move through the venue under real pressure and making sure everyday operations deliver the experience we intended.

Early trading quickly revealed pressure points. Reception, shoe change and game check-in, bar ordering, and game changeovers all had the potential to slow momentum if they weren’t actively managed.

The biggest challenge was managing transitions. Guests move from play to drinks, from spectating to food, and then back to games again.

Being part of a true 360° process allowed us to adjust quickly once real guests arrived. We refined queue management, redistributed staff at peak moments, and rethought communication touchpoints. Those changes reduced friction, increased cross-usage between zones, and had a measurable impact on both dwell time and revenue.”

Ryan Waddell – Head of Operations

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Food & Beverage Under Pressure

“Food and beverage at Kontraloop was always ambitious. My goal was to deliver casual dining done exceptionally well, food designed for sharing and flexible enough to support constant movement across the venue.

This concept was made in Split, for Split. It’s a community place where people of all ages come together, not just a bar with games added on.

One of the most important aspects of the venue is how it transitions throughout the day. During daytime hours, we host kids’ parties and family visits, and by evening the space naturally shifts into adult-focused socialising and events.

That transition from day to night is everything. The lighting changes, the music changes, and the atmosphere shifts. After a certain time, kids’ parties end and the venue becomes more nightlife-driven, not excluding anyone, but clearly changing who it’s for.

Operationally, the kitchen works in waves. Orders spike around game changeovers, events, and group arrivals. Table sizes fluctuate, and guest expectations around speed are very different from those of a traditional restaurant.

The solution lies in menu design and system thinking. Sharing plates are designed to arrive within 15–20 minutes, allowing guests to snack, play, move, and return without interrupting their experience.

In this type of venue, people don’t sit down for a three-course meal. They have a drink here, a snack there, and then move on. Sharing plates support that behaviour.

High-volume bar service runs alongside cocktails, local products, and a sense of theatre. Strong stock management, defined reset routines, and close coordination with the floor team are essential. When food and beverage operations run smoothly, guests stay longer, spend more, and move fluidly between zones.”

Samantha Toscano – Operations Standards & Training Manager

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Where Service Meets Strategy

“From the outset, we built the culinary strategy around reality. The menus needed to travel well across the venue, scale quickly during peak periods, and stay consistent whether we were serving a couple or a large corporate group.

This is food designed for a competitive social environment: robust, reliable, and ready for anything. It has to support fun.

Preparation of the team was just as critical as the menu itself. I trained both the kitchen and floor teams to anticipate order spikes, coordinate timing closely with the bar, and maintain pace during simultaneous large bookings. By standardising recipes, plating, and service sequences, we ensured events could integrate seamlessly into daily operations without disruption.

Premium service is central to Kontraloop. While the atmosphere is fun and informal, the service is intentionally premium, trays instead of hands, welcoming hosts, storytelling, and moments of personalised engagement throughout the guest journey.

This is a premium competitive social experience, and the service has to reflect that.”  

Ivan Sabol - Culinary Director

Impact & Results

Initial guest feedback from soft openings to ongoing operations has been strong. Satisfaction scores and dwell times have exceeded expectations, with high cross-usage between games, food, and bar zones.

Guests are bowling and dining, often multiple times in one visit. The venue appeals across age groups, integrates smoothly into the shopping centre ecosystem, and performs under pressure. Most importantly, the experience feels effortless to guests, exactly as intended.

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