But when it gets down to it, the food is the same old same old.

Viva McDonald's -- set to open at 11 a.m. Thursday at 2896 Las Vegas Blvd. South, Las Vegas, Nevada -- will serve McDonald's food, which, however you slice it, is undeniably fast food. But customers will eat it in an environment that feels like anything but ... well, a McDonald's.



Borrowing from the contemporary stylings of Starbucks and the ever-growing counter-service restaurant industry, Viva McDonald's has unexpected design accents including faux-leather easy chairs and saucer chairs, pendant lighting, framed artwork, textured walls, sliding louvered structures on the windows, electrical outlets for plugging in your laptop and wireless Internet access (for a fee, although the company promises that coupons for free access will be frequently available).

The centerpiece is a large oval communal table crowned by a ring of 14 video screens that will debut McDonald's Channel, carrying content from the Discovery Channel, TLC, Animal Planet and the Science Channel. There also are four large screens on the front exterior of the building -- which can be used separately or in synchronization -- and another atop the tall outdoor sign.

The restaurant is almost monumental in scale at 8,600 square feet, compared to 4,000 to 5,000 square feet for an average McDonald's, and has two cooking lines, compared to one in the vast majority of the company's outlets across the country, said Steve Ballard, senior area supervisor.

The design elements and size are part of the plan to make Viva McDonald's a destination, "not just a place to get a Big Mac." In the same way that visitors to Las Vegas feel compelled to see the Fountains at Bellagio, he said, the company wants them to feel a need to visit Viva McDonald's.

From today's Las Vegas Review-Journal.