Slowly, but surely McDonald's is shifting to table service

Say goodbye the white metal chairs and bold red and yellow colors. The new McDonald's is sleek, muted and modern.

McDonald's revealed on Thursday that its U.S. restaurants will be getting a major upgrade. As part of the company's efforts to become a "modern and progressive burger company," McDonald's is adding self-service ordering kiosks, craft burgers and table service to its stores.

"For the best part of our 60 years we've asked customers to fit around our business model," CEO Steve Easterbrook said. "Now customers are more demanding and we are looking to adapt our business."

McDonald's "experience of the future" is currently available in about 500 of the company's 14,000 U.S. restaurants and will expand in the coming years. Boston, Washington, D.C., Chicago, San Francisco and Seattle will be the next markets to adopt McDonald's new technology and services.

Easterbrook noted that McDonald's is focused on how customers order, what they order, how they pay and how they want to be served. The restaurants will allow for self-service kiosk ordering and counter accessibility. Customers can pay with cash, credit, debit, Apple pay and Android pay and will soon be able to order through the company's mobile service.

"The counter is a barrier," Easterbrook said.

McDonald's employees will now spend more time in the front of the restaurant, delivering food directly to the tables and offering traditional dining hospitality.

"We are investing in technology and people," Chris Kempczinski, incoming U.S. president of McDonald's, said. "We want to personalize and elevate the experience for consumers in the U.S."

In addition, the company will be adding new craft burgers and chicken to its menu. The Big Mac will now come in two additional sizes, Grand and Jr., as previously announced and innovative items like a pico de gallo burger with guacamole will be joining the menu board.

Easterbrook noted that increased customization is a key facet of building a "better McDonald's." Using the self-service kiosks, customers can choose from preselected items or create their own.

For Easterbrook, a Quarter-Pounder with cheese, sans pickles is the ideal order.

"Our ambition is to accelerate on our momentum," he said.