½ûÂþÌìÌÃ

Hi ! I've seen your website and menu. I think you will not have any problem with food culture here. There's plenty of room for every kind of recipes, with traditional italian fast foods besides foreign ones. Each one has its enthusiasts and many italians and tourists like variety. In our cities you find indian, african, mexican, arab, chinese and japanese restaurants and fast foods. Mc Donalds and the other american or international stores are thriving as well.

In my opinion the only difficulty lies in 1) the choice of the right spot where to locate your business and 2) bureaucracy and paper work.

The second point can be addressed with the help of a technician (not a real estate agent only. The real estate agent can help you find a place but you *must* be sure you can set up your business there, and therefore you need an impartial technician assuring there are not legal issues. In historical downtowns there are local laws limiting the number of certain kind of shops or specific requirements of the buildings).

For the first point there is a fundamental, basic choice. You can open your business (a) in an industrial or non-touristic zone and have local workers as customers or (b) in a touristic place with both italians and foreign (international) customers.
In the case (a) you'll pay a low rent but in a period of economic distress like the one we are living now here you'll get less revenue and - sometimes and in some places- you could encounter criminality problems.
Instead, very touristic zones with international presence (b) can give you assurance of a steady flow of customers and security. Obviously rent can be outrageously high. You must have a clear and sound business plan and aggressively negotiate your rent.

Best towns with huge touristic presence all year round are the historic downtowns of Venice, Florence and Rome.

bye
Paolo

Starting up a new business in Italy is difficult, and in the food area I am guessing even harder as they take such a pride in their food.  I would recommend you find yourself a good commercialista, they will be able to give you all of the details and you will need someone like this behind you venture. 

Ours is a lifesaver and keeps us from making any serious misdeameanors. cx