Massimo Zanetti Beverage Group, owner of the famous Portuguese brand Nicola and of the historic namesake cafeteria in Lisbon prides itself to announce that Café Nicola most likely boasts the title of first Italian coffee shop on Lusitanian soil: his birth dates back to 1779, when Nicola Vitaliano opened its doors in the central Praça Dom Pedro IV, also known as Rossio.
The Botequim do Nicola, this its original name, soon became the first literary café of the city, frequented by artists, Freemasons and writers, among whom we must remember the poet Bocage. The cafeteria was closed in the mid-Nineteenth Century and later reopened in 1928 after an elegant renovation with the name of Café Nicola. During the Twentieth Century the cafeteria underwent further changes.
Café Nicola is part of Lisbon’s historic shops programme, which preserves the historical heritage of the city, and it continues to fascinate hundreds of customers and visitors every day, attracted by its historical aura and by the excellent coffee served.