At Thursday's opening of the "Dog's Night Out" festivities, Red Sox great Carlton Fisk was scheduled to serve as guest waiter, providing canine customers with the house special: Filet Mignon made with angus beef, one of seven flavors in the Chop House Originals (http://www.alpo.com/index.aspx?pathPass=products/chop_house/ch_ny_strip) line of gourmet canned dog foods, which promise the pets of grocery shoppers "restaurant-inspired taste, right here at home."

Those Beantown "can-noisseurs" lucky enough to savor that taste this week in a real restaurant can also take advantage of other themed amenities like a photo booth, where they get their pictures taken with their owners. They also get to take home a doggie bag with food for their next night's dinner -- and to make new friends not only with their dining companions at rustic wooden tables, but with adoptable dogs from Mass Paws, a local rescue organization.

Alpo, in fact, has promised to donate $8,000 to Boston-area shelters on behalf of all the dog dinners served. Other costs for the promotion were not revealed.

On the feline side, Del Monte's Meow Mix Cafe from Grand Central Marketing in late 2004 cost the brand $150,000 for a 10-day run in New York City -- and then reportedly resulted in $50 million in additional sales during 2005.