The building to the right of the restaurant is typically vacant, though the opening credits depict a different business inhabiting the space in every episode.

Nine-year-old Louise is the scheming troublemaker, seeking revenge, riches, or adventure, often dragging her siblings along; she puts on a face of fearlessness but is still afraid of some things (such as the dentist or being without her pink rabbit-eared hat).

There are various recurring characters in the series, including Jimmy Pesto Sr. (Jay Johnston, 2011–2021; Eric Bauza, 2023–present), Bob's primary business rival who owns an Italian-themed restaurant across the street with his friend Trev, and his three sons: Jimmy Jr. (Benjamin), Tina's somewhat oblivious love interest who just wants to dance; and hyperactive and childish twins Andy (Laura Silverman) and Ollie (Sarah Silverman), who are friends of Louise.

Other friends, and frenemies, of the Belcher kids include Jimmy Jr.'s best friend, the rebellious yet soft-hearted Zeke (Bobby Tisdale); Tina's frequent rival, spoiled valley girl Tammy (Jenny Slate) and her airheaded sidekick Jocelyn (Roberts); anxious nerd Darryl (Aziz Ansari); the timid Regular-Sized Rudy (Brian Huskey); Louise-obsessed Millie (Molly Shannon); and the necklace-sucking Courtney (David Wain).

Other recurring characters include Mort (Andy Kindler), the mortician who lives next door; the Belcher family's taciturn mailman Mike Wobbles (Tim Meadows); Linda's flighty sister Gayle (Megan Mullally); Edith (Murphy) and Harold Cranwinkle (Sam Seder), the elderly, grouchy and aggressive owners of the local art store Reflections; and the Belchers' wealthy, meddling and odd landlord, Calvin Fischoeder (Kevin Kline) and his bratty brother Felix (Zach Galifianakis).

Other characters include Linda's troubled friend and hair stylist Gretchen (Murphy); Linda's insufferable parents, Al (Benjamin in "Crawl Space"; Seder afterwards) and Gloria (Renée Taylor); several recurring teachers and classmates of the Belcher children; Nat Kinkle (Jillian Bell), a limo driver and family friend who helps them with odd jobs; amateur filmmaker Randy (Paul F. Tompkins); friendly but overzealous dentist Dr. Yap (Ken Jeong); bank robber turned carnie Mickey (Bill Hader, 2012–2020); Courtney's music producer father Doug Wheeler (John Michael Higgins); and Marshmallow (Herman, 2011–2020; Jari Jones, 2023–present).

Creator Loren Bouchard said Bob's Burgers came about because Fox's animation brand centers mostly on family, but he also wanted to dabble in workplace comedy.

[18] The series has generally been viewed as a spiritual successor to King of the Hill, which carried less emphasis on shock comedy and focused more on character-driven humor.

Though informal, the name has appeared during the series: Bob is seen reading a newspaper titled "Seymour's Bay Times" in the season 11 episode "Y Tu Tina También".

The current team of writers include Loren Bouchard, Scott Jacobson, Lizzie Molyneux-Logelin, Wendy Molyneux, Holly Schlesinger, Nora Smith, Steven Davis, Kelvin Yu, Dan Fybel, Rich Rinaldi, Jon Schroeder, Greg Thompson, and Katie Crown.

H. Jon Benjamin, Rachel Hastings, Justin Hook, Dan Mintz, and Mike Olsen have also written or co-written episodes.

[33] At the Bob's Burgers Comic-Con 2018 panel, creator Loren Bouchard stated they were aware of the predominantly male gender imbalance amongst the voice actors, saying they would "strive to do better...to have balance."

Linda puts her arm around Bob, Tina stands expressionless, Gene plays a sound effect on his keyboard, and Louise poses for the camera.

The gag present on Bob's Burgers involves the store next to the restaurant, which has a new, humorously named occupant in every episode (such as "Betty's Machetes" in "Purple Rain-Union").

This new occupant is sometimes then used or seen in the main episode, such as in "A Fish Called Tina" (Season 10) when a plot point involved the new gym owner next door offering passes to Bob and Linda.

[36] Beginning in season 13, after the telephone pole crashes into the restaurant, an additional segment is added where a sinkhole opens up, referencing the events of The Bob's Burgers Movie saying "Grand Re-Re-Re-Re-Opening".

The scene is the kitchen of Bob's Burgers drawn with a black outline over a white background and the characters in full color, with the credits off to the right hand side.

From then on, each season has included a Halloween episode where the Belcher Family's costumes are creative homemade masterpieces that often involve the show's affinity for puns.

Past costumes include Linda dressed as a "Cher-iff," the iconic singer with a badge and handcuffs; Tina as a witch carrying two pieces of bread, or a "Sand-Witch"; Gene in a wig wearing a giant cardboard applesauce jar as "Fiona Applesauce"; and Louise as "The Bjorn Identity," dressed as Jason Bourne while wearing a Bjorn baby carrier.

[37][38][39] Bob's Burgers currently airs on two cable networks in the United States: Adult Swim, which first began carrying the show June 23, 2013, and FXX, which started September 24, 2019.

"[1][60] USA Today stated that "Bob's Burgers isn't very tasty," describing the comedy as just "lop[ing] along, stumbling from one tasteless moment to the next.

[121] In 2018, Hulu announced that Bob's Burgers was one of the top adult animated shows on the platform, alongside Family Guy and South Park.

[122] In 2024, Nielsen Media Research, which records streaming viewership on U.S. television screens, calculated that the show garnered 734 million minutes of watch time from July 29 to August 4.

[125][126] Bob's Burgers amassed 693 million minutes of viewing time, securing its position as the tenth most-streamed series overall from August 26 to September 1.

Bob made another cameo in the season 27 episode "The Girl Code", where a picture of him is shown, and explaining that the restaurant was boycotted by short people due to an offensive Burger of the Day.

In the Family Guy episode "Space Cadet", the principal shows Peter and Lois a picture of Bob Belcher as a sign that Chris is doing poorly in his Advanced Art class.

In Aqua Teen Hunger Force, a character previously known as Dr. Eugene Mirman (played by himself) was renamed "Dr. Gene Belcher" in the episode "Hospice".

The character's name was revealed on Aqua Teen Hunger Force's creator Dave Willis' Twitter account two hours before the episode.

[139] A sketch from the Robot Chicken episode "Boogie Bardstown in: No Need, I Have Coupons" has Bob Belcher compete on MasterChef Celebrity Showdown, along with SpongeBob SquarePants, Alfredo Linguini, and Jerome "Chef" McElroy.

The film would be a musical comedy and would involve Louise and her night light Kuchi Kopi inside her fantasy world as a minor subplot.