'Sad', 'gimmick' and 'mass-produced': Is the 'nonna pasta window' trend in Rome the latest tourist trap to avoid?

Published: 05:26 EDT, 29 September 2026 | Updated: 05:31 EDT, 29 September 2026 Looking to Italian grandmothers for inspiration for how to live a happy, healthy life is one of the most unconventional trends dominating the travel landscape this summer.'Nonnamaxxing', a term coined to denote the viral Gen Z trend, has seen holidaymakers cooking from scratch, gardening, knitting and taking digital detoxes.But the emergence of the pasta-making nonna, where Italian women stand in the window of restaurants to appease enthusiastic tourists, might be taking things too far.In Rome, many establishments are now luring in customers with a 'nonna' standing in the window, preparing fresh pasta in full view. Windows face onto the street, where women roll and shape the dough for delighted onlookers to photograph and, inevitably, share on social media.Tourists are loving it – but locals are not so sure. Artisan chefs have started preparing fresh pasta by hand in shop windowsHolidaymakers have been warned the growing trend is a sure-fire sign the spot is a tourist trap – and you should turn your attention, and your hard-earned cash, elsewhere.While some participating restaurants have argued it's a proof of the food's quality, chefs are not so sure. Michele Pascarella, a chef from Naples and the owner of Napoli on the Road in London, told Metro: 'I’ve never seen proper restaurants in Italy displaying people in the window making pasta. 'And if a place does, it’s usually more of a kitschy tourist trap than an authentic restaurant.'Meanwhile, Sophie Minchilli, co-founder of food tour company Via Rosa Italy, told the Washington Post: 'It’s literally like a zoo. It is probably homemade and delicious, but it’s wrong.' The gimmick has soared to popularity on social media - but is it authentic?There are plenty of other criticisms to be had.One comment on Instagram read: 'I would never. Whenever I travel I make it a mission to avoid tourists trap.'Another said: 'Yes pasta making is Italian culture, but this goes from culture to gimmick to get clients.'A local said: 'Romans will wait in lines for great food. Tourists wait in line where Instagram tells them to wait.'Another commented: 'It’s a sad and mass-produced trend but most restaurants in the centre of Rome tend to be tourist traps anyway, and even the ones which catered to locals are swiftly becoming like that as well. 'Most Romans (myself included) would usually never dine in the historical centre except for a few spots in Trastevere.' Come 'Na Vorta is one restaurant in Rome participating in the trendYet despite the mild furor that this trend has generated, one of the first spots to display pasta makers in the windows has, admittedly, received rave reviews. 'Before Rome had viral pasta videos, there was Osteria da Fortunata,' one Instagram video said.'No gimmicks. No shortcuts. Just incredible ingredients, recipes passed down through the family, and pasta so good you’ll be planning your next visit before you’ve finished your plate. I would not miss this when in Rome.'Even so, it's probably better to skip pasta-making nonnas in windows and head elsewhere – a restaurant with a real-life nonna dining al fresco, perhaps?