Pasta Flame brings halal pasta and fire cooking to Tampa

Pasta Flame has slipped into one of Tampa’s more easy-to-miss restaurant spaces, behind the Mobil station at 10865 Cross Creek Blvd., where the former Mpanitas spot is now serving halal pasta with a setup that looks far bigger than a single neighborhood counter.

The new restaurant had been open only a few weeks as of June 3, and that timing matters in a corridor where New Tampa and Wesley Chapel diners are quick to test fresh concepts but just as quick to move on. Pasta Flame’s exterior gives off the feel of a chain, yet the business is being presented as the first link in a possible future chain, which is exactly the kind of ambition that can turn a strip-center opening into something regional if the food and operations hold up.

Saif owns the restaurant, and Chef Muhammad is behind the cooking. Muhammad brings kitchen experience from Marriott and Hilton hotels, a background that fits a concept trying to bridge polished execution with fast-casual convenience. The menu centers on pasta, and the clearest calling card is the Creamy Tomato Rosé, listed at $13.99, with fresh tomatoes, onions and yellow peppers showing up in the dish’s description and in the restaurant’s broader pitch around Italian tradition and fire cooking.

That pitch goes beyond one bowl. Pasta Flame’s website highlights hand-milled flour and San Marzano tomatoes, while the Toast ordering menu expands the lineup to Truffle Chicken Alfredo for $16.99, Creamy Pesto Shrimp for $17.99, Seafood Pomodoro, Classic Meatball, rigatoni bolognese, burgers, sandwiches, salads, desserts and sides. The Flame Classic Angus Burger is listed at $12.99, a sign the restaurant is not relying on noodle fans alone to build traffic. Toast also shows daily hours from 12:00 p.m. to 12:00 a.m. and 24-hour-notice catering, giving the operation a late-day footprint that could help it pull lunch, dinner and weekend traffic.

Early response looks strong. A halal directory lists Pasta Flame with a 4.9 out of 5 rating based on 253 reviews, a solid start for a spot that only formally launched as Pasta Flame LLC on April 25, 2026, with a Seffner address tied to the company. The space also carries a familiar local-business history: Mpanitas previously occupied the same plaza, serving Venezuelan empanadas, arepas, mini-empanadas, mandocas, sweet tequeños and café con leché after opening there in April 2023.

For Tampa’s pasta crowd, the appeal is in the contrast: a hidden address with a chain-ready look, a halal menu built around fire cooking, and enough variety to reach beyond one neighborhood niche. If Pasta Flame can keep the bowls consistent and the operation tight, the spot behind the Mobil station may prove that the next scalable pasta story can start in a place most drivers would miss on the first pass.