Let's hang out at McDonald's, y'all.

As for the one including the stage on the 16th Street Mall, that's an interesting decision. Especially since there are a bunch of homeless and pan handlers down there. Oh well, at least Panic At The Disco will have an audience. [Ha ha. Ok. Final Panic jab.]

McDonald's adds Starbucks touch

The Big Macs may still taste the same, but an increasing number of McDonald's customers can now eat them while curled up in leather chairs near roaring fireplaces.

Some 44 Colorado McDonald's have been remodeled or rebuilt as part of a national effort that the burger chain hopes will encourage customers to view it as a destination rather than a spur-of-the-moment snack stop. The restaurants are adding plasma TVs, wireless Internet and outlets for laptop computers.

"The idea is to make the consumers a little more comfortable - to have them sit and drink their coffee and stay awhile," said Oliver Kemp, an operations manager for McOpCo, which operates McDonald's company-owned restaurants.

Chicago restaurant consultant Ron Paul calls it the "Starbucks effect," noting that McDonald's appears to be aiming for the same niche the coffee behemoth occupies.

"Starbucks has customers between 1:30 and 5:30 when no one else does," said Paul, president of Technomic Inc. "McDonald's wants a piece of that between- meal business."

Fast-casual competitors such as Pei Wei Asian Diner, Panera Bread and Chipotle, which McDonald's held a stake in until last month, have raised the bar on design, also forcing the company to keep up, he said.

Some of the more dramatic remodels have already appeared in Greeley and Fort Collins, and some metro-area locations - including two in Aurora - are in line for the upgrades over the next several months. Several metro-area locations have already been remodeled but do not include fireplaces or leather chairs.

Kemp declined to say how long it will take for all 200-plus McDonald's in the state to adopt the new look.

Nationally, McDonald's has remodeled 5,000 locations since 2002. The Oak Brook, Ill.-based company said in January that it expects to invest $1.8 billion to open about 800 new McDonald's restaurants and remodel 2,500 locations worldwide.

McDonald's is footing the bill to remodel company-owned stores, but franchisees must pay for the remodels themselves. Kemp declined to say how much it costs to remodel or completely rebuild a store.

Tom Carlson owns the McDonald's at 16th and Champa streets and expects to go above and beyond design guidelines when he remodels in 2008 by adding a stage for live musical performances.

"We're a company that has been around since 1955, and the customer has changed during that time period," Carlson said.

The new McDonald's design features black, granitelike tiles on the walls, maple-finished wood and a variety of seating options, including tall tables with bar stools.

The changes weren't lost on Jeremiah Huerta, 18, and Brittany Cox, 16, as they downed cheeseburgers and fries Tuesday at a Broomfield McDonald's that had been completely rebuilt.

"It's a lot nicer. It's much more up to date," said Cox, who lives in Thornton.

The Broomfield restaurant does not include leather chairs or a fireplace, but it does have a closed-off seating area with a plasma TV that has emerged as a popular spot for meetings and gatherings.

"They have realized that in our fast-paced society there are not nearly enough places to meet," said Kevin Moll, president of Restaurant Consultants Inc. in Denver.