PastaMania is introducing a brand new experience of Italian casual dining to China.

The chain has opened a flagship store at Superbrand Mall in Pudong, Shanghai.

PastaMania is an Italian restaurant chain in Singapore and is currently present in Southeast Asia and Middle East countries.

Parent, Singapore-based investment company Commonwealth Capital, plans to set up 50 restaurants in Shanghai.

“We take pride in not just the cuisine we serve but enabling our customers to experience Italy in our restaurant,” said Wilson Lim, executive director of international business.

Each PastaMania restaurant is designed in accordance to the Italian piazza concept, which means ‘City Square’ where the bustling of public life takes place. Customers can find Italian newsstand (Edicola), the neighbourhood pasta shop (Negozio Della Pasta), grocery store (Alimentari) and traditional Italian bakery (Panificio Da Ugo) settings in the restaurant.

PastaMania boasts an extensive menu of close to 70 choices. Diners can customise their meal by choosing the type of pasta they want from a selection of spaghetti, linguine, penne, fusilli or wholemeal, and mixing with sauces.

PastaMania has an aggressive growth strategy to operate 500 restaurants in China through company-owned stores and franchising.

“The response has been tremendous so far with many franchise enquiries from different provinces in China hoping to start PastaMania quickly. We are setting up the infrastructure necessary for this to take place,” said Lim.