East Memphis is the upscale residential end of the city, stretching out along Poplar Avenue from Midtown toward the suburbs. It is less interesting for tourists than downtown or Midtown, but it is where many of the city's better restaurants concentrate — particularly along Poplar, Germantown Parkway, and in the strip malls of East Memphis's commercial corridors, which conceal some genuinely excellent places to eat behind unremarkable facades. The Memphis Botanic Garden in Audubon Park is here, 96 acres of themed gardens that are particularly good in spring.
Shelby Farms Park is the other reason to come east. One of the largest urban parks in the United States at 4,500 acres, it sits on former penal farm land and now has lakes, mountain bike trails, equestrian paths, and a small herd of bison. The park is heavily used by locals for running, cycling, and kayaking. The distance from downtown (about 10 kilometres) means visitors without a car rarely get here, but it is worth the effort.