Review: Bob’s Burgers “Romancing the Beef”

Overview (Spoilers Below):

It’s Valentines Day and every couple is looking for a place to grab a romantic dinner. Jimmy Pesto’s place is all fancied up for the big day, but Bob and Linda are closing up before the late night lover’s rush just like usual — until Louise comes up with a scheme to turn their burger joint into cupid’s corner.

While the rest of the Belcher clan works on revamping the restaurant to attract a new clientele, Tina attends an anti-Valentines Day party hosted by none other than Tammy. Everything is going alright until Tammy starts to inject some unwanted romance into the evening and Tina has to escape into the night. But with a text from Jimmy Jr. on the emergency phone and a restaurant filled with love (and money), the night ends up going great for the family.

Our Take:

Hearts are farts and cupid is stupid! That’s the rallying cry at the start of this week’s special Bob’s Burgers episode. Bob and Linda haven’t even finished writing each other Valentines yet, and Tina is on the outs with that no good Jimmy Jr. It’s looking like V-Day will be just like any other day, until Louise schemes up a bright idea to take advantage of the last minute lover’s dinner rush in order to make some quick cash.

It’s great to see the family working together towards a common goal, and it’s even funnier when they do it by dressing Gene up in a Cupid-themed diaper. Louise even pitches in by making paper roses and selling them table to table. Bob and Linda revamp the menu, turning burgers into beef steaks and retrieving bottles of wine from their private emergency stash. Even Teddy contributes by loaning them the decorations he usually puts up in his apartment. (Not every room!)

When Hugo the health inspector shows up, things take a turn for the worse, but the family thinks on their feet and tricks him into believing his no-show blind date is just holed up in the employee bathroom. It adds a dose of drama into the otherwise fairly low-stakes proceedings, but the resolution is a bit underwhelming as his date eventually shows up randomly right before he can shut the place down. The best part of this section of the episode is when Bob and Linda tell each other their Valentines out loud in front of the entire restaurant — a bit much, perhaps, but also perfectly fitting for the two of them.

Tina’s anti V-Day party plot line has plenty of laughs, too, but is also a bit of a head scratcher, considering the Tina of old probably would be all about grabbing some random butts on Valentines. The boy she ends up escaping the party with is fine, but nowhere near as memorably unique as many of the show’s other side characters.

Success is not something that can be taken for granted by Bob and his family, so it makes those times when they do triumph all the more special. By the end of Valentines Day, the restaurant is filled with good food, paying customers, and lots of love. And that’s really all you can ask for, right? In the same spirit, Romancing the Beef has heart, humor, and a little salt for taste.