Here’s how Americans do coffee: We stroll into shops and order our lattes, often sprinkled with a dose of cinnamon or mint syrup, and hang around, sipping luxuriously on our drinks. We enjoy the Wi-Fi and the cushy couches. Sometimes, we’ll bring our laptops and try to get a couple hours of work done.

This isn't how it works in Italy, where people stand at the espresso bar, chat for five minutes about current events or sports, and throw back a shot right there. Then they’re out. None of this lounging or taking cups on the go while hurrying to work.

Despite that great divide, Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz says the world-famous chain he founded was inspired by a trip he took to Italy thirty-three years ago. Even so, Starbucks never dared step foot in the country—until now. Starbucks says it plans to open its first Italian retail store in Milan by 2017. Needless to say, Italians have some opinions about this news.

One Italian said he was perfectly content to drink Starbucks coffee abroad, but in Italy, he said, "I prefer my bar."

But others had, well, a more aggressively negative outlook about creeping cultural imperialism. Careful, said one tweeter: the arrival of #StarbucksItalia could destroy the country!

"The Master" scoffed that the prospect of Starbucks replacing Italians' favorite espresso bars was laughable.