Over the course of 16 seasons and over 300 episodes, Bob’s Burgers has developed a deeply devoted fandom, rich with cosplays, fan theories, and TikTok videos lip-syncing to their favorite scenes. This community also obsesses about the tiny details on the animated family sitcom that some might miss — including the show’s creator Loren Bouchard.
In Mashable’s Say More interview with Bouchard, he and Entertainment Editor Kristy Puchko talked about the show’s growth, what drives him, how the character of Marshmallow has evolved, Bob being embraced by queer fans as a bicon, and of course how the Belcher kids eat tacos. Much to Puchko’s surprise, even after 15 years of promoting Bob’s Burgers on junkets and numerous conventions, Bouchard hadn’t been asked about why the Belchers eat their tacos from the top down.
In case you missed it, here’s the exchange from Say More:
While Puchko laid out the most popular fan theories, Bouchard admitted he didn’t know the origin of this Belcher eccentricity, but promised he’d look into it. Well, he’s gotten back to us.
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Here is Bouchard’s official follow-up to the taco question:
“This first happened in ‘Work Hard or Die Trying, Girl’ and was an accident we decided to keep. As many suspected, we boarded the scene with burgers, then changed the prop to tacos so we ended up with the odd-looking ‘top down taco eating’ animation.”
This means the idiosyncratic taco-eating dates back to Season 5, episode 1, where Gene and Courtney had dueling musicals based on ’80s hit movies, Die Hard and Working Girl. It’s a sensational episode in many respects, including the clever practical effects for Die Hard‘s most iconic action scenes, and now, also the start of the Belchers eating tacos top-down.
Shout out to all those fans in our comments who speculated correctly, and a special cheers to those of you who insist top-down is the best way to eat a taco. You, Gene, Tina, and Louise clearly have a deep connection.
