Get ready to dine with the dinos at the Houston Press Menu of Menus Extravaganza, benefiting the Child Advocates Inc., at the Houston Museum of Natural Science. As you gawk at the T-Rexย’s carnivorous canines, you can chomp down on sample bites from more than 40 local restaurants including benjyย’s, Cadillac Bar, Mak Chinย’s, Dantonย’s, Rattan, Italianoย’s and, um, Shipley Donuts. (Insert joke about security guards being distracted by free donuts here.) Wash down all this fun-size tastiness with libations from La Fuente Winery and Titoย’s Vodka.

If you want to avoid the crowds, consider the VIP option that includes early entrance, a lounge stocked with top-shelf liquor and admittance to the butterfly house ย— ย‘cause you know the Papilionoidea family likes to party all night long! 6:30 p.m. (5:30 p.m. VIP entrance.) One Hermann Circle Drive. For tickets and information, call 713-280-2478 or visit www.houstonpress.com. $30 to $75.

Tue., April 1, 6:30 p.m., 2008

This article appears in Mar 27 – Apr 2, 2008.