A new Starbucks cafe will open its doors in downtown Rome at Piazza Montecitorio, opposite the Italian parliament building, Italy’s La Repubblica newspaper reported on Thursday.

A Starbucks ‘coming soon’ sign appeared this week on the facade of a former restaurant close to Palazzo Montecitorio, the seat of the Italy’s lower house of parliament.

Renovation work is currently underway and the new branch is expected to open by the end of April, Repubblica reported.

Starbucks apre a Roma in piazza Montecitorio: al via i lavori [aggiornamento delle 17:33] https://t.co/erBeefZqqD

— Repubblica Roma (@rep_roma) March 23, 2023

The US-based multinational has long been rumoured to be opening an outlet at an unknown location in Rome’s city centre following its success in Milan and elsewhere.

Starbucks has 25 outlets in Italy so far, despite predictions that it would not last long in the country famed as Europe’s coffee capital and the home of espresso shots drunk standing at the counter at family-owned bars.

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So far, only one of these outlets is in the south of Italy – a branch opened at the Castel Romano shopping mall on the outskirts of Rome in April 2022.

Starbucks’ locations in Italy are mainly in and around Milan and other parts of northern Italy, which is more affluent and has a higher ratio of international residents than the south.

But local media has frequently speculated about the opening of more branches in Rome as part of Starbucks’ plans to expand in Italy throughout 2023.

Starbucks also planned to open an outlet near Rome’s central Termini train station, La Repubblica reported in September 2022, though there’s no sign of it yet.

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Starbucks has been in Italy since 2018, when it opened a branch at Piazza Cordusio in Milan, saying it was entering the Italian market with “humility and respect”.

The multinational caused a stir in February when it launched a range of olive-oil infused coffee-based drinks at its Italian stores.