Certain things you expect, when you dine in a revolving restaurant perched high above a scenic, historic river setting. You expect a heck of a view. You expect the burger to be pricey. But you probably don’t expect to find one of the best crab cakes in Alabama, 300-odd miles from the coast.

360 Grille in Florence offered all of this on a recent visit, which is to say, it was everything I expected and maybe a little more.

The restaurant overlooking Wilson Dam on the Tennessee River is part of the Marriott Shoals Hotel and Spa complex, which in turn is part of the portfolio of properties owned by Retirement Systems of Alabama and managed by PCH Hotels & Resorts. 360 Grille stands high above the Marriott Shoals spa. How high above it? According to the restaurant FAQ, it’s the equivalent of 27 stories high.

Speaking of Frequently Asked Questions, we might as well get this one out of the way: How does it rotate, exactly?

It’s cleverly done. The tower that holds it up doesn’t spin and obviously that’s good, because you wouldn’t want your elevator to move in a spiral. The central lobby area that you step into also is firmly anchored to the tower. And you can watch all day from the outside, but you’re not going to see any part of the exterior move, either.

The part that revolves is a disc near the outer perimeter of the restaurant structure. It’s wide enough to accommodate a ring of four-seat tables and walking space. These tables area all along the outside perimeter, so you don’t have to request a window seat. You’re going to be right by the windows. (This layout imposes a limitation: The biggest group that can be seated together on the rotating section is six. But there’s an “off-rotation” table that can take 16, and the view is pretty good from there too.)

The spin is slow enough that it doesn’t cause any issue when you step across the tight seam between the moving and non-moving portions of the floor. It also won’t throw you off, though there are rare moments where you’ll pick up the shifting perspective out of the corner of your eye and be compelled to do a double take.

The disc takes about 90 minutes to make a full revolution, which means that over the course of a leisurely meal, you’ll get the full panorama. And what a view it is! On this particular day, storms were moving in as the venue opened for dinner. A gray curtain was hanging in the distance to the southwest, appearing to cut across Sheffield and Tuscumbia.

It would be a while before it swept across Muscle Shoals and the river and into Florence. Wilson Dam was clearly visible, with its locks and spillways and the massive TVA complex beyond. So were the concrete span of the (relatively) new Singing River Bridge downstream and the steel girders of the O’Neal bridge farther in the distance. Upstream, Wilson Lake stretched into the distance.

As we waited for the view to shift and the storm to arrive, my companion and I enjoyed the quiet, upscale ambience. We’d dressed up, but this turned out to be unnecessary. The restaurant’s online guide says that it does not enforce an upscale dress code because it wants to “accommodate our resort guests that may be traveling.” We saw plenty of people in shorts and other casual attire.

The food, though, was another matter, starting with the delicious amuse-bouche that preceded the meal. It was just an Asian-themed bite, but it promised good things to come.

For the first course, we chose the crab cake, which comes garnished with spicy corn maque choux and a roasted red pepper aoli. This turned out to be a great call. $30 might seem like a lot for a single crab cake, but this one measured up: It was huge – easily an appetizer for one person or tasting portions for four – and the crab-to-cake ratio was dominated by crab. Florence may be a long way from crab habitat, but 360 Grille holds its own with the standard-bearers of coastal cuisine.

After a solid but unremarkable salad course (heirloom tomato wedge for $11, mixed greens for $10), we moved on to the third course. I had the Double Bone Frenched Chop, a huge cut of sous-vide pork with a caramel red wine demi-glace. Thanks to the sous-vide approach, the double-thick pork chop had just a hint of sear on the outside while the inside was remarkably consistent. Keeping a cut tender and juicy all the way through is quite a feat, which it’s practically a roast.

I’d swear the sauce had a hint of soy flavor that seemed to call back to that amuse-bouche. It added the savory note that the chop needed to put it over the top.

My companion went with the Wagyu Burger, because we were both curious to see what you get in a $36 burger. The answer starts with a 2/3-pound slab of Wagyu beef, which is then dressed up with award-winning Point Reyes bleu cheese, house-made pickles and apricot jam.

The Wagyu patty impressed with its texture: It was as juicy as a burger made with a relatively high fat content, but it still had the firmness of a leaner grind. The artisanal bleu cheese competed for dominance of the flavor profile, and if I do it again I might ask if they could serve the cheese, or at least half of it, on the side. But then again, I do like a good black-and-bleu burger, so maybe I won’t.

At $39 each (with one side) the burger and the chop fell in the middle of 360 Grille’s price range. Steaks run from a $49 16-oz. New York Strip and a $52 7-oz. Filet up to a $68 22-oz Tomahawk Ribeye. “Composed entrees” included a Braised Short Rib and Oxtail Ragu ($36), Pan-Seared Salmon ($45), Pan-Seared Chicken over arugula risotto, beurre blanc and roasted cipollini onion ($35) and a Vegetarian Plate including grilled asparagus, sauteed greens, glazed sweet potato, wild mushrooms, caramelized cauliflower and more ($24).

While all this was hitting the table, at some point the storm front finally decided to jump across the river. There was a moment where you could see wind-driven rain blasting across the surface of Wilson Lake in sheets but the view from above was still clear. Then the storm engulfed the tower, and you could watch the rain pouring off its roof being swept into the vortices of air swirling around the tower.

The tower itself stood firm, making it a fine place to view the weather. And by the time the meal was over, it has passed.

All in all, it was an experience that measured up to its unique location. And one worth coming around to again.

360 Grille is at 10 Hightower Place in Florence, Ala. It recently switched to dinner-only operation following the reopening of another Shoals Marriott venue, Swampers Bar & Grille, after remodeling. This fall 360 Grille also will close for renovations and menu changes as the Shoals Marriott continues a transition to become Renaissance Shoals Resort & Spa. For full information including menu, hours and reservations, visit www.360grille.net.