No issue with the question, but I kinda feel like the detraction in the replies is missing the point - the North End IS by and large the kind of place you'd have gone out with your grandparents in 1989. I don't really think that makes it a tourist trap in itself - if you're hearing it's the best place for Italian food ever, then sure, but really it's just a long time Italian American neighborhood where the vast majority of restaurants serve classic Italian American red sauce food. I love that kind of food, but I don't think it's too controversial to say you can only elevate it so high.