Drown Your Sorrow With These Anti-Valentine’s Day Deals

Nothing mends a broken heart like some good, old fashioned emotional eating.

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Chicken and waffles at City Tap House. / Photo provided

Valentine’s Day is meant for couples to express their love and affection for one another—so a decent number of people want nothing more than to avoid all that candlelit- and prix-fixe mushiness. If throwing back a beer and housing a plate of chicken and waffles sounds more your speed, escape to these local restaurants and bars offering no-frills, single-friendly specials.

If you have a change of heart, there are plenty of places serving romantic V-Day specials.

Armsby Abbey

If you just need to get out of town, consider a jaunt to Worcester for Love Bites brunch. Instead of dainty sharable plates, opt for hearty servings of bourbon apple fritters, Broken Hearted pizza with bacon sausage, blood orange hollandaise and an egg; and Red Hot pancakes with ginger syrup and toasted hazelnuts. Save room for a couple glasses of Hill Farmstead, too, since the bar is still one of the only places to find the brewery on tap in Massachusetts.

Saturday and Sunday, February 11-12, seatings at 10 a.m., 11:45 a.m., and 1:30 p.m., Armsby Abbey, 144 North Main St., Worcester, 508-795-1012, armsbyabbey.com.

Bukowski Tavern

For a complete blackout of V-Day, head to the Boston branch of Bukowski for its F*ck Valentine’s Day party. There will be no PDA, no romance, and definitely no heart-shaped candies—just beers and snarky Valentine’s cards.

Tuesday and Wednesday, February 14-15, 11:30 a.m., Bukowski Tavern, 50 Dalton St., Back Bay, 617-437-9999, bukowskitavern.net.

City Tap House

City Tap House is ditching the romance with its “Cupid is Stupid–Swipe Left” dinner specials. The weekend before V-Day, the new Fort Point bar will offer a menu heavy on the kinds of indulgent plates couples might normally avoid during a date, like chicken and waffles, poutine with waffle fries and short rib, and fried banana splits. Each of these fatty platters come with suggested beer pairings from Firestone Walker, Stoneface, and more.

Saturday and Sunday, February 11-12, 5 p.m., City Tap House, 10 Boston Wharf Rd., Fort Point/Seaport, 617-904-2748, boston.citytap.com.