This Atlanta throwback sandwich comes with an incredible view

Skyline Park, on the rooftop of Ponce City Market, specializes in hipster-approved nostalgia, updated for our modern times. The old-school fairground games, a carpet slide, putt-putt and the Heege Tower appeal to the inner child, while beer, wine and cocktails tamp down the inhibitions of the outward adult. Once you’ve worked up an appetite elsewhere on the rooftop, beer garden-restaurant 9 Mile Station has a few menu items to scratch that same nostalgic itch. Chief among them: the 9 Mile Station patty melt.

While the exact origins of the patty melt, aren’t known, the classic American sandwich was popularized in the 1940s, and, like the original hamburger, it is served on sliced bread, rather than a bun. The patty melt is still a mainstay on menus that hark back to the good old days of roadside diners and pharmacy soda fountains.

9 Mile Station’s version hews closely to ideal patty melt tradition, with slight updates. It’s served on very good marble rye bread from Buckhead Bread Co. that’s toasted to a buttery crispness. Both slices of bread are cloaked in melted fontina cheese, a flavorful upgrade over Swiss, which envelops the patty once the sandwich is assembled.