Listen to Bach, eat a Big Mac

A well-dressed doorman greets you with a smile and ushers you through the front entrance. You walk past marble tables adorned by fresh-cut flowers, and under decorative chandeliers.  Live music plays upstairs.  From across the room, someone asks, "You want fries with that?"

That's right, you're in Lower Manhattan's world-famous, five-star McDonald's.  At 160 Broadway -- just north of Wall Street -- this particular restaurant was built 12 years ago to capitalize on its Financial District address across from the NASDAQ building. The eatery once featured a real-time stock ticker on the wall above the menu.  The ticker now scrolls news headlines.

Bob Ruehs, the store's general manager, considers this McDonald's a one-of-a-kind fast food experience. The staff wears unique crimson vests and uniforms, a departure from the regular Golden Arches' uniform.   Female employees sport black Kangol hats, popularized by actor Samuel Jackson in the 1997 film Jackie Brown .

A former professional musician, the pianist sits at a baby grand on the shop's second floor, playing music from midday through the afternoon. His repertoire includes well-known Broadway hits, more obscure personal favorites, and -- usually after a round of applause -- requests from the lunchtime audience seated below.  "We might be one of the only McDonald's in the world that has a live piano player," Ruehs says proudly.

The spacious second floor features the "Orchid Room," which can be booked for special occasions, including birthday parties and bar mitzvahs as well as corporate affairs.  You can buy McDonald's collectibles and local souvenirs at the Gift Boutique, also on the second floor.

Two hostesses in distinctive red coats (one to each floor) ensure that customers feel comfortable and have a clean eating environment.   After finishing a recent lunch, two office workers had trouble finding the trash receptacles -- which, at other McDonald's restaurants are on prominent display, "THANK YOU" emblazoned on their sides.    Here, however, the potentially offending dispensers are neatly and discretely tucked away -- befitting the world's premier fast food dining spot.   

Two young men visiting from California, Jeff and Beau, enjoyed having their meals served in "super-sized" splendor and luxury. "It's a high-class McDonald's. We would definitely come back."