IT’S LIKE ‘A TACO BELL IN MEXICO’

Starbucks is set to open its first Italian outpost in Milan’s city centre this September, Eater reports. And as you might expect from the birthplace of espresso, locals aren’t thrilled about its impending debut.

The Local Italy recently polled its readers on social media, and 87 per cent of respondents voted against the American coffee chain’s Italian invasion.

Some people argued that Starbucks selling coffee to Italians “would be like taking tulips to Amsterdam, opening a Taco Bell in Mexico or a Dominos Pizza in Italy.” For the record, there are three Dominos Pizza locations in Milan.

Others, however, said that Italy’s timehonoured coffee culture is unlikely to falter. And at least one person admitted, “I voted no thanks, but after thinking about it I guess it would be nice to have a pumpkin spice latte this fall.”