Abigail Chaplin (left) with her sister Lily
As half of the musical duo The Chapin Sisters, Echo-park resident Abigail Chapin is constantly on the road—whether it be touring with Zooey Deschanel’s band She & Him or headlining a handful of dates with her sister, Lily. But she’s always happy to return home to L.A.
1 | ![]() | The Echo My favorite place to see music is The Echo. We’ve played there so many times, we’ve had residencies there—it just feels like home. There are a lot of weekly parties with familiar faces. It’s big enough so some big, nationally touring acts stop through but it also feels really intimate and the sound is good. There is also a really nice back patio. |
2 | The Edendale Grill |
3 | ![]() | McCabe’s Guitar Shop I love McCabe’s Guitar Shop in Santa Monica. When I went there for the first time and bought something with my credit card, the woman recognized my name and asked if I’m related to Tom Chapin, my dad. It’s a place full of people who’ve worked there forever and know so much about music and instruments and the different people who have come in to the store. Everyone from Joni Mitchell to Will Oldham has played there. |
4 | ![]() | Sushi Nozawa The chef gives you whatever he wants and you have to eat it and pay for it. It’s kind of scary because he could easily get angry at you, but it’s worth it because the food is amazing. It’s closed on weekends, which always screws me because I always forget and then regret driving all the way there. |
5 | Elysian Park I live right on Elysian park, and so do my brother and his kids and our other sister Jessica. We all end up in the park all the time. I spend a lot of time walking though the park or just sitting on a hill there, and I think it’s such an amazing part of L.A., to be in a city but be close to so much nature. |
6 | ![]() | Elf Café Elf Café is a walkable distance from my house and I like to go buy a bottle of wine next door and they just have really delicious, homey meals. I go for dinner usually. My sisters and I always go together when my parents are in town. |
7 | ![]() | Apple PanI also really like Apple Pan for burgers. I think that’s my favorite burger in L.A., though there are a lot in the running. |
8 | ![]() | Govinda’s I recently went back to a place that I hadn’t been in a while, the Hare Krishna store and restaurant, Govinda’s. They have an amazing store with the most beautiful hand-embroidered Indian clothing I’ve ever seen. |
9 | ![]() | Creatures of Comfort I love Creatures of Comfort on Melrose for special, everyday things. I usually get shoes there and at the Mohawk General Store. I have a shoe thing, that’s the truth. |
Images courtesy of (in order): (1) Flickr/the_toe_stubber, (2) Flickr/skampy, (3) Flickr/freeloosedirt, (4) Flickr/adactio, (5) Flickr/Bogart Handsome Devil, (6) Elfcafe.com, (7) Flickr/digitalshay, (8) Flickr/ellenm1, (9) Creaturesofcomfort.us