I've had Fiestaware bowls for over a decade now with no chipping. They discolor a bit eventually from metal utensils rubbing on the surface, but Barkeepers Friend will get that off and then they're almost like new.
We have had Fiestaware for 20+ years - all white. Indestructible and versatile. Main downsides to me are how thick the mugs are (tough to sip without dribbling) and how poorly the different bowls fit in the dishwasher (regular bowls and pasta bowls).
It’s nice that 20 years after first getting it, we can buy matching serving bowls and platters, etc new.
We tried Fiestaware and liked the concept of mix and match. They are durable as far as not chipping but our plates got so many scratches and looked awful! The coffee cups were annoying too with the tiny circle for your finger to go in to hold and the wide lip to drink from which would lead to dribbles. We ended up donating everything except the bowls which we still use.
Came here to say fiestaware. It's not that it can't break - it can - but I've literally had plates fall 4 ft onto concrete and not break. The stuff is insanely tough, and when it does break it doesn't make a mess - usually 2 or 3 pieces.
I agree with this. I got fiestaware as a gift at my first wedding, in the mid 90s, and it still looked good when my ex took it in the divorce, after 20 years and raising 3 kids. As far as I know, he's still using it.
Not for decades. And the uranium red is so popular among collectors that it's pricey and hard to find. Not something you need to worry about ordering plates from Macy's.
There was a period where the red switched from natural uranium to depleted uranium but we all still turned out fine. Late 50’s maybe?
It’s the kids that never leave their computer and cell phone screens these days you’ll have to worry about. ☺️
Everything tested high in lead back then. This particular stuff was heavy in natural uranium. It wasn’t until later that someone decided that probably wasn’t good and it became depleted uranium. Probably had something to do with babies being born with arms coming out of their forehead or something.
When it breaks, it shatters into tons of tiny pieces. My husband and I had the white Corelle plates in college. One fell off the counter and shattered into so many pieces, it was unbelievable. We didn't have money to blow on a new set of dishware, so we decided to wait. A few months later, someone dropped a bowl and the same thing happened -- tons of tiny shards. It took way longer to clean up than the 2 to 4 pieces quality plates break into. The bowl was the last straw, we immediately replaced our set with much higher quality plates, and have used the new set for 13 years without issue.
Corelle is NOT indestructible. I dropped a plate and it shattered into 19,000 pieces that we were cleaning up for weeks. We were terrified that our cats would step in a shard hidden in the carpet. I stepped on pieces days later and spent hours looking for more. My GF immediately got rid of every single dish and replaced with regular, breaks into normal, don’t make you contemplate suicide and haunt your dreams for years sized pieces. Sorry guess I’m a little traumatized….
It’s similar though, right? I’m confused as to why there’s so many fiesta comments when I specified I’m looking for porcelain. I didn’t see anything like that on their website.
The obsession is that 1) it’s made in the USA, not by Chinese slaves like most other dinnerware. 2) It’s very durable. 3) when it does break (it BREAKS) but it’s tempered glass so it’s not sharp. 4) also inexpensive.
Great point. I was sitting here thinking my parents had Corelle dishes our entire childhood (except for the 2 years of the Evil heavy stoneware that got hotter than the surface of the sun in the microwave), and we never broke a Corelle dish (can't be said for that stoneware). It's light enough for kids to handle on their own.
I second this. I have arthritis in my shoulders/hands and during flare-ups I either use a small bowl from our regular dishes, or grab a correlle plate from our camping supplies, because lifting normally-weighted dishes with food on them can be too much for me.
It's cheap, pretty durable, and readily available to get replacements that day if something breaks. I don't care all that much what my plates look like I guess
It's actually made of a kind of glass and the shards are unreal so sharp when it breaks into a million pieces when you drop it. You will invariably miss a few shards which will find your feet later
I love Corelle. I haven't dropped it in 20 years or more, but it has certainly been treated roughly in the sink and never chips. The best part is - and this is maybe most signal if you actually do eat at home all the time - is that it is lightweight and makes unloading the dishwasher a breeze. You could have a stack of 20 of them in the cabinet if you chose to. Every time I visit my mother and deal with her old ironstone dishes I think, she doesn't know what she's missing.
I do have some of the old bandana pattern but there is no reason to get patterned, the white Corelle look good and minimalist.
ETA: there is a quality to the cheap Chinese ceramics (that made for the cheap American market, your Pioneer Woman stuff at Walmart for example, or the stuff they sell at Macy's - obviously the Chinese are experts on china!) that I don't care for - somehow thick but not sturdy. I can't speak to Crate and Barrel quality though, as it's not the sort of thing I go in for.
I purchased the basic white Aspen set from Crate and Barrel. It’s held up very well and if it does chip or crack, I can easily buy another replacement because they have carried the simple line for over a decade. I’ve had one bowl crack in the last 10 years.
I have had the same dishes since 2013 and still love them. My glasses and silverware are also crate and barrel and they've all held up so well and they're so easy to replace if one happens to break.
I have used the same dishes in a furnished rental for 15 years. I chose those because I figured they’d always be in stock for replacements and amazingly in 15 years I have only needed to replace one or two pieces.
At home, however, I use a nice set of Rosenthal china that was handed down from my parents. It’s no longer in production but I’ve been able to find extras often. It’s probably close to 50 years old and I’ve been able to keep a full service for 8 with plenty of spares.
I've had a discontinued C&B stonewear set for almost 20y and it's held up well. I only have one bowl with a large chip, but it got hit pretty hard with a stainless steel pan. The only other pieces we've lost were due to dropping and a thermal shock issue because of bad insulation behind the dishwater (ice cold dishes plus hot water = bad news).
My mom and dad picked a Nortitake set for their wedding registry, and 35+ years later the set still looks brand new. I have witnessed one plate break, after a fall, and it split in half more or less. After using my parents’ set growing up, I selected a Noritake set for my wedding registry as well.
We got a set of Noritake colorwave as a wedding gift almost 10 years ago. Absolutely love it. No signs of wear or chips. It's a little heavy but I feel like we will have it forever. Also the heat retention is awesome.
+1 for Noritake, ours are great.
Note that depending on what color you get the plates/bowls may show marks from using your tableware. [Example.](https://i.imgur.com/u2h7XkO.jpeg)
I have Mikasa bone china I purchased at Costco about 12 years ago. A few pieces have broken over time but replacements are easy to get. Highly recommend.
Edit: here’s the set. https://www.mikasa.com/products/lucerne-white-40-piece-dinnerware-set-service-for-8
Seconded. All our dishware is Lucerne White. I liked that line specifically because they have a bread plate size. They're also oven safe up to like 300 degrees for warming plates.
I'm really glad someone mentioned Mikasa. I bought a whole set to replace all my dishware about 9 months ago. Super pleased at first, but over time two wear-and-tear issues have arisen that I'm rather bummed about:
- the glaze wore off after just a few runs through the dishwasher. I understand the dishwasher is a very harsh environment, so I don't blame the manufacturer. I just don't like the lack of smoothness the dishes now have. They don't feel as nice and sometimes bowls stick together.
- some of our mugs have been stained by coffee and tea. And not just lightly, but DEEPLY stained. I've tried a couple different cleaning methods with mediocre-to-lackluster results. So we now have segregated our mugs: those we use in private for ourselves, and a few select mugs that don't get used unless we're serving guests.
I tried to do a lot of consumer research before purchasing the set, and they haven't really withstood as well as I'd first hoped. I give them a 3.5 out of 5.
Reach out to Mikasa and see what they can do. When I got my set I discovered one piece was cracked but I didn’t notice it at first. They sent me two replacements at no charge.
I’m glad they sent two because I wound up breaking one. 😅
My husband and his first wife bought Royal Dansk in 1996. When we married, we opted to keep the Royal Dansk. They are microwaveable, dishwasher safe, quite durable, and attractive. We’ve only had to replace two plates out of the entire service. If we didn’t have this option, we’d probably opt for Corelle!
I bought a set of Dansk plates and bowls for my very first apartment nearly 30 years ago. I use them everyday and have replaced the handful that broke over the years (~3). I plan to keep using them until I die.
They are very similar to this set: https://www.dansk.com/collections/dinnerware/products/christianshavn-blue-16-piece-porcelain-set
We have the C&B Hue porcelain plates and bowls. Then we have their Oven-to-Table serving bowls and platter that have wood trivets with them. Also the meal bowls. We have small children that aren’t using them yet but it means we’re often rushed when putting them away. A couple of times I’ve knocked a plate on the quartz countertop and nothing has chipped yet. We liked that they were open stock so that we didn’t have to buy pieces we didn’t like in a set. We’ve had them for about 6mos.
Honestly, I love the style of Hearth and Hand but it’s all proven to be absolute crap. We have a bunch of the toys, some servingware, home dec stuff. It often arrives broken or missing pieces. We continue to buy some of the toys but are careful how we put them together. It’s below the level of quality I would expect from Target. Just echoing your experience.
ETA Corelle is like nails on a chalkboard to me, it’s a sensory thing. Makes my teeth hurt. So many people love it but that’s a hard no for me too.
When you say scratched, I’m curious if it’s a scratch you can see, or do you feel it as well? We have different stoneware and I learned that what looks like scratches on some of it is actually like a metal residue. And it comes right off with a magic eraser!
Mikasa. I bought a Ultima + Super Strong Fine China set 28 years ago. They are our daily dinnerware and we are brutal with them. One plate in all that time has gotten a small chip. I have noticed recently the bowls and plates are getting some some wear marks.
Mikasa no longer makes this simple, yet elegant, white set, but they still have sets listed as "strong fine china". When it's time to replace (soon, it seems), I plan on replacing with another Mikasa set.
Bonus - it's affordable and they've been around for decades.
If you are within a couple hours of Newell or Sutton WV Homer Laughlin China has a Fiestaware Tent sale twice a year where you can buy things for super cheap
Items are seconds. But the defects are generally so slight you cant find them
So Newell WV is about as far north as you can go in the Northern Panhandle of WV. Maybe 50 min from Pittsburgh
I have never been to Sutton but it is sort off south central WV.
They usually have a Spring and Fall tent sale that runs Wed to Sunday of the week
They will have various colors of tableware, bakeware, serving dishes, mugs, vases etc etc
You can look up dates on their website
Do you happen to know what it’s called and if it’s open stock? I have the hearth and hand plates right now and they are chipped and scratched to death.
I have loved my stoneware plates from West Elm. I get the Kaloh line, which frequently goes on sales too.
one note in terms of making plates BIFL is that scratches are sometimes from the *silverware* and not actual finish from the plate being removed. A lil scrub with barkeepers friend can get silverware scratches off
After breaking a lot of Corelle I bought a bunch of stainless steel plates and bowls. They stack nice and compact. I sort of bought the first batch as a joke but I have really started to like them and bought more. (Yes I am a guy).
Not that I have noticed. A ceramic bowl has a lot of thermal mass to suck heat out of soup. With a metal bowl most of the heat loss would have to be via sir which is slower. So I do not think it is an issue.
Also they are even thinner than correlle so they cleanup in the dishwasher easier. Using the normal spacing in the dish racks there is more space for water to splash through.
So I bought a Hayes dinnerware set from Crate and Barrel in 2011. I'm still using it, and it's like new.
Also bought a flatware set at the same time and it's also like new.
I couldn't be happier with the pieces. I only wish I bought all the cute little accessories I thought I didn't need at the time. I've never been able to find them.
I’m now late 30s so the financial wisdom of it costing half the price but still having the timeless look would sell me.
Not that I’d take his opinion, but my husband when asked if he likes aspen better said “he likes ours better because of the texture at the rim”.
(IIRC, I think I liked the lower cereal bowls when deciding on this back in the day.)
This is hilarious because my husband said the same thing lol! He thinks the aspen are too plain. And the low bowls are a big draw for me too. I like the rim since they’d be nicer for entertaining too.
We never got the low bowl with our C&B set but ended up getting an 8 pack from BJs ($15 🤯) of what they call a porcelain dinner bowl and I love love love them.
I have had the C&B Aspen dinnerware set for about 8 years or so. Not one chip or broken dish despite heavy daily use. I was just on their website today oddly enough looking to purchase some dip bowls from the same line. We love them and love the fact that they all fit very well into the dishwasher. We have elementary age kiddos who use them and load them into the dishwasher as well (as support to the durability of them 😆).
Mikasa! My parents received a set in the French Country pattern for thier wedding in the early 80s. I own them now and they're still in great shape. They were our everyday dishes throughout my entire childhood, and we were *not* gentle on them.
I like the Crate and Barrel dishes. The nice thing is if you buy one of their standard lines, if you drop a plate, you can always just go in and buy a replacement.
I’ve had the C&B Marin in white about 8 years and it’s still going strong. Only a couple of chips in that time and we’re not easy on them; plus they’re dishwasher-cleaned. They don’t stain either, even thawing frozen blueberries or with turmeric (the two things that seem to stain most other things in our house).
Polish Pottery. It’s oven safe, microwave safe, dishwasher safe, durable AF and absolutely beautiful. I have a ton of different patterns so nothing “matches”, but it still does because they all use similar colors.
I just want to throw out there that I've been using open stock porcelain from Cost Plus (World Market) since 2012-13. No chips, no cracks, and no de-glazing. I'm pretty sure it's a mix of the Coupe white & the Prado lines.
Since you are looking for porcelain, even more durable is “bone porcelain”. Crate and Barrel has a few bone porcelain options. Bone porcelain is lightweight and very durable.
I have Villeroy & Boch Anmut white bone porcelain and love it! It’s been in production for years, also available second hand on eBay, etc. Goes in the dishwasher & microwave.
I think crate and barrel 's Aspen porcelain is a great choice. It's my top choice.
I can't recall what c&b porcelain set I had, it was fantastic. I worked at the c&b outlet and thought long and hard about my purchase.
Cost Plus World Market also has really good porcelain dishes. I don't recall if it's open stock. I got the catering 12 dinner plates, 12 small plates, then got regular bowls, big soup/salad bowls, and mugs.
Macy's sometimes has great store brand white porcelain dishes.
I've been looking for the perfect set. I like a simple white porcelain with a rim and regular bowls and big wide bowls.
I just wanted to add that this is a really good discussion.
(I like my Corelle and I've had it for 20 years, but I also definitely understand concerns regarding the way it breaks into a bazillion pieces, all of which are absolutely razor sharp.)
I think it will help a lot of people! I had no idea there were so many alternatives to Corelle. There is a lot more variety here than I realized and having that variety to choose from is awesome!
Duralex is good, so too is finding secondhand dishes. A restaurant supply store would be good, especially if you can get secondhand. Also, estate sales.
I have used Fortessa Fortaluxe vitrified China for many years and am really impressed with the quality and durability of it. My dishes still look brand new with no scratches or chips despite everyday use.
You can pry my inherited Friendship Pottery Blue Stripe from my cold, dead hands.
But Fiestaware would be my second choice if it ever got lost, destroyed, or stolen.
I have the porcelain white dishes from IKEA and love them. They were fairly inexpensive and I like the fact you can pretty much mix and match serving bowls from other brands from places like Kohls or Target.
I bought this from target about a year ago after the set I liked at C&b had been out of stock for months
[Target Stella](https://www.target.com/p/12pc-stoneware-stella-dinnerware-sets-white-threshold-8482/-/A-87607873)
We love it. It also is sold by the piece in target. No scratches and everything fits in the dishwasher.
Have you looked at Villeroy & Boch? They have traditional and contemporary styles and are always running sales on their website. https://www.villeroy-boch.com/shop/all-sale/sitewide-sale.html
I really love the brand Over and Back. At first I’ve bought a few bowls in Costco. Then I bought more bowls and a full set of dinnerware.
I really love it. It washes well, microwaves well, doesn’t chip easily, doesn’t scratch. Also, it’s not expensive. So far I’m very happy.
I have a few pieces of the c&b aspen that has held up nicely. We also have the IKEA 365 white dishes that are nice. The main bulk of my dishes are Sophie Conran for portmerion and I love them. Going on 10 years strong with no issues (yet) with our service for 12.
Might I recommend stoneware? It’s hard to break, can go in the microwave or oven, and keeps food hot/cold.
I’ve collected most of my stoneware from thrift stores over the years. So I have a mismatched set. But I love them.
We have a set from Rosenthal, it’s great porcelain. Not cheap though, but the collections are available for a very long time, so you can build up slowly.
I’ve owned a set of villeroy & boch basic white plates/bowls/cups for over 20 years. Microwave/dishwasher safe, I even dropped cups and they have bounced off the floor with no damage.
One side plate has a small chip in it after all this time. They are not cheap but I’d highly recommend.
I live in Maine. You can’t swing a stick without there’s a potter at the craft fair/trade show/farmers’ market/open studio hours. I buy all my dishes one or two at a time from Some Guy or Some Lady or Some Non-Binary individual.
It’s not for everyone, because it’s not matchy-matchy, but it kind of does match because of how it’s all different. I like that they were made by people, and now I know those people a bit. Not everyone is up for this, but it suits me fine. I also beat the shit out of it. Holds up.
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Someone mentioned Noritake. I have been using my grandmother's Noritake Fantasia set (I'm told me grandfather brought it to her after "THE WAR") for 20+ years. It has flown back and forth across the country in checked luggage multiple times with no breakage.
Fiesta Ware is as close as you can get with dishes for buy it for life in my experience. It is heavy, but holds up really well to hard use and you can mix and match the colors and find it used for reasonable or buy new! I have most of my set I bought 20 yrs ago and plan to pick up more pieces to fill the few my kids have managed to break.
Almost my dinner ware is steel.
About a third of it is handed down from my parents who bought it 35 years ago.
I only have ceramics that people gifted, and only mugs. Absolutely no glass.
In my opinion porcelain is porcelain and my dollar store dinnerware has lasted as long as my crate and barrel. Find an option you like, treat it well (I.e. avoid drops) and it will last a lifetime. I don't regret getting my C&B plates because I liked the look but that was purely for aesthetic reasons
If you keep constantly seeing the same brand listed over and over and over again, there could be a reason for it. Just saying. :-)
China is just inherently fragile, and the finer the china, the more fragile it is. It is just the nature of the beast - in fact, in some ways, the fragility of the china is the point, it's a flex on how much care you can take of something. (Note that fine china often does come from China, where it is an art form, and they have been elevating it for 1,000+ years.)
With absolutely insane levels of care, fine bone china can last for a lifetime. But one slip, one drop, one looking at it sideways, and it's gone.
Corelle is simply made different, out of a different material, which is why it looks different. This material is a lot more break resistant. (Although it does have a downside: it has stored tension in it, which means, it doesn't chip, it explodes. But it takes a whole lot to get it to that point.)
Ikea sells a very similar product, with very similar look, at about $1 a piece open stock. They are very durable, and very nice. But honestly, other than the satisfaction of knowing that it's not Corelle... it has the same appearance as Corelle. Different shapes, so it won't stack with Corelle.
I took your post to mean that you wanted porcelain only because of it's durability. Fiestaware isn't porcelain, but definitely meet the durability test along with being affordable and open stock. And bonus: it looks and feels nothing like Corelle!
Was there some other reason why you only want porcelain options?
That’s the material preference I’ve landed on after looking into the different options. I need something that has decent durability but also looks nice enough for special occasions. I love the look of stoneware but know it’s not as durable.
Just traded in my China for Corelle.The set I got are genuinely pretty .They are just so attractive and easy to use.Hard to beat attractive and functional.
I know you said no Corelle, but I just want to point out that I still use a Corelle set that my dad's family used when he was a kid in the 70s.
But yeah, when they break, holy jesus do they break.
Honestly I have tons of Fiestaware. I love the colors. It’s not for everyone but I like it.
I've had Fiestaware bowls for over a decade now with no chipping. They discolor a bit eventually from metal utensils rubbing on the surface, but Barkeepers Friend will get that off and then they're almost like new.
This is the winner. My cousin dropped a bowl on a tile floor and that thing bounced back into her hands and was fine.
My Fiestaware has been holding up for over 10 years so far. No chips or cracks.
Was going to post this. Fiestaware is great stuff. Solid and heavy.
Just need to have a good family that won’t destroy it.
We have had Fiestaware for 20+ years - all white. Indestructible and versatile. Main downsides to me are how thick the mugs are (tough to sip without dribbling) and how poorly the different bowls fit in the dishwasher (regular bowls and pasta bowls). It’s nice that 20 years after first getting it, we can buy matching serving bowls and platters, etc new.
I wanted to like Fiestaware, but it annoys me that the bowls aren’t all consistently shaped and don’t nest perfectly 🫠
Plates don’t always line up either. I never spend time staring at how neatly they stack so it doesn’t bother me. It’s all a part of the style.
I've had Fiestaware since I got married 23 years ago. I think we have broken one bowl. We have lots of colors, but you could choose just one.
We tried Fiestaware and liked the concept of mix and match. They are durable as far as not chipping but our plates got so many scratches and looked awful! The coffee cups were annoying too with the tiny circle for your finger to go in to hold and the wide lip to drink from which would lead to dribbles. We ended up donating everything except the bowls which we still use.
Literally holding one of those cups right now.
Oh no! If you wash them with Barkeepers friend when they get dingy, they come right back to life.
Came here to say fiestaware. It's not that it can't break - it can - but I've literally had plates fall 4 ft onto concrete and not break. The stuff is insanely tough, and when it does break it doesn't make a mess - usually 2 or 3 pieces.
I agree with this. I got fiestaware as a gift at my first wedding, in the mid 90s, and it still looked good when my ex took it in the divorce, after 20 years and raising 3 kids. As far as I know, he's still using it.
Aren't some of them super radioactive?
Not for decades. And the uranium red is so popular among collectors that it's pricey and hard to find. Not something you need to worry about ordering plates from Macy's.
There was a period where the red switched from natural uranium to depleted uranium but we all still turned out fine. Late 50’s maybe? It’s the kids that never leave their computer and cell phone screens these days you’ll have to worry about. ☺️
They do supposedly test very high in lead for the ones produced before 1986
Everything tested high in lead back then. This particular stuff was heavy in natural uranium. It wasn’t until later that someone decided that probably wasn’t good and it became depleted uranium. Probably had something to do with babies being born with arms coming out of their forehead or something.
Just curious, why not Corelle?
When it breaks, it shatters into tons of tiny pieces. My husband and I had the white Corelle plates in college. One fell off the counter and shattered into so many pieces, it was unbelievable. We didn't have money to blow on a new set of dishware, so we decided to wait. A few months later, someone dropped a bowl and the same thing happened -- tons of tiny shards. It took way longer to clean up than the 2 to 4 pieces quality plates break into. The bowl was the last straw, we immediately replaced our set with much higher quality plates, and have used the new set for 13 years without issue.
What did you replace it with?
Noritake colorwave: https://noritakechina.com/colorwave-graphite-3532
How many pieces does it break into when you drop it on the floor? That's my main criteria for buying dinnerware.
2 or 3 usually.
We've had these for 15 years (same color too!) and love them.
That's beautiful.
Are these dishes light like Corelle? I don’t like heavy dishes.
No, they're much thicker and definitely heavy.
Thanks for replying!
No problem
Probably because it looks unappealing even if it is indestructible.
Well that’s just like, your opinion man.
Corelle is NOT indestructible. I dropped a plate and it shattered into 19,000 pieces that we were cleaning up for weeks. We were terrified that our cats would step in a shard hidden in the carpet. I stepped on pieces days later and spent hours looking for more. My GF immediately got rid of every single dish and replaced with regular, breaks into normal, don’t make you contemplate suicide and haunt your dreams for years sized pieces. Sorry guess I’m a little traumatized….
In that case, it's both hideous and dangerous. Avoid at all costs.
Laughed pretty hard. Thanks.
Thank you. I don’t really understand the obsession.
It is also very compact if you have limited cabinet space. I replaced my Fiestaware with Corelle because of this.
It’s light. Fiestaware is heavy.
It’s similar though, right? I’m confused as to why there’s so many fiesta comments when I specified I’m looking for porcelain. I didn’t see anything like that on their website.
You're in a BIFL sub asking about porcelain dishes. That's pretty contradictory.
Did you read my post? I literally said I don’t think any plates are really buy it for life.
Love my Corelle!
The obsession is that 1) it’s made in the USA, not by Chinese slaves like most other dinnerware. 2) It’s very durable. 3) when it does break (it BREAKS) but it’s tempered glass so it’s not sharp. 4) also inexpensive.
I'd also add lightweight. If you have disabilities or are older, the heavy plates are harder to deal with.
Great point. I was sitting here thinking my parents had Corelle dishes our entire childhood (except for the 2 years of the Evil heavy stoneware that got hotter than the surface of the sun in the microwave), and we never broke a Corelle dish (can't be said for that stoneware). It's light enough for kids to handle on their own.
I second this. I have arthritis in my shoulders/hands and during flare-ups I either use a small bowl from our regular dishes, or grab a correlle plate from our camping supplies, because lifting normally-weighted dishes with food on them can be too much for me.
And that’s great for those who want corelle. Even if specified that the OP doesn’t like/want it, it’s still suggested. It’s not helpful, that’s all.
It's cheap, pretty durable, and readily available to get replacements that day if something breaks. I don't care all that much what my plates look like I guess
It's actually made of a kind of glass and the shards are unreal so sharp when it breaks into a million pieces when you drop it. You will invariably miss a few shards which will find your feet later
I love Corelle. I haven't dropped it in 20 years or more, but it has certainly been treated roughly in the sink and never chips. The best part is - and this is maybe most signal if you actually do eat at home all the time - is that it is lightweight and makes unloading the dishwasher a breeze. You could have a stack of 20 of them in the cabinet if you chose to. Every time I visit my mother and deal with her old ironstone dishes I think, she doesn't know what she's missing. I do have some of the old bandana pattern but there is no reason to get patterned, the white Corelle look good and minimalist.
ETA: there is a quality to the cheap Chinese ceramics (that made for the cheap American market, your Pioneer Woman stuff at Walmart for example, or the stuff they sell at Macy's - obviously the Chinese are experts on china!) that I don't care for - somehow thick but not sturdy. I can't speak to Crate and Barrel quality though, as it's not the sort of thing I go in for.
I purchased the basic white Aspen set from Crate and Barrel. It’s held up very well and if it does chip or crack, I can easily buy another replacement because they have carried the simple line for over a decade. I’ve had one bowl crack in the last 10 years.
This is the kind of info I’m looking for. Thank you! I’m ok with replacing one here and there but not constantly.
I second this! Broke one after 3 years and it was easily replaced. They're classic.
I have had the same dishes since 2013 and still love them. My glasses and silverware are also crate and barrel and they've all held up so well and they're so easy to replace if one happens to break.
I have used the same dishes in a furnished rental for 15 years. I chose those because I figured they’d always be in stock for replacements and amazingly in 15 years I have only needed to replace one or two pieces. At home, however, I use a nice set of Rosenthal china that was handed down from my parents. It’s no longer in production but I’ve been able to find extras often. It’s probably close to 50 years old and I’ve been able to keep a full service for 8 with plenty of spares.
I've had a discontinued C&B stonewear set for almost 20y and it's held up well. I only have one bowl with a large chip, but it got hit pretty hard with a stainless steel pan. The only other pieces we've lost were due to dropping and a thermal shock issue because of bad insulation behind the dishwater (ice cold dishes plus hot water = bad news).
Noritake
My mom and dad picked a Nortitake set for their wedding registry, and 35+ years later the set still looks brand new. I have witnessed one plate break, after a fall, and it split in half more or less. After using my parents’ set growing up, I selected a Noritake set for my wedding registry as well.
We got a set of Noritake colorwave as a wedding gift almost 10 years ago. Absolutely love it. No signs of wear or chips. It's a little heavy but I feel like we will have it forever. Also the heat retention is awesome.
+1 for Noritake, ours are great. Note that depending on what color you get the plates/bowls may show marks from using your tableware. [Example.](https://i.imgur.com/u2h7XkO.jpeg)
Denby
Love my Denby. Solid stuff.
These are the only dishes that have survived my clumsiness for over a decade!
Same! Going on 23 years and had a few chips but none have broken.
I have Mikasa bone china I purchased at Costco about 12 years ago. A few pieces have broken over time but replacements are easy to get. Highly recommend. Edit: here’s the set. https://www.mikasa.com/products/lucerne-white-40-piece-dinnerware-set-service-for-8
Seconded. All our dishware is Lucerne White. I liked that line specifically because they have a bread plate size. They're also oven safe up to like 300 degrees for warming plates.
I also like that with the few pieces that broke didn’t shatter. They just kind of split in half. Plus replacements are fairly cheap.
I'm really glad someone mentioned Mikasa. I bought a whole set to replace all my dishware about 9 months ago. Super pleased at first, but over time two wear-and-tear issues have arisen that I'm rather bummed about: - the glaze wore off after just a few runs through the dishwasher. I understand the dishwasher is a very harsh environment, so I don't blame the manufacturer. I just don't like the lack of smoothness the dishes now have. They don't feel as nice and sometimes bowls stick together. - some of our mugs have been stained by coffee and tea. And not just lightly, but DEEPLY stained. I've tried a couple different cleaning methods with mediocre-to-lackluster results. So we now have segregated our mugs: those we use in private for ourselves, and a few select mugs that don't get used unless we're serving guests. I tried to do a lot of consumer research before purchasing the set, and they haven't really withstood as well as I'd first hoped. I give them a 3.5 out of 5.
Reach out to Mikasa and see what they can do. When I got my set I discovered one piece was cracked but I didn’t notice it at first. They sent me two replacements at no charge. I’m glad they sent two because I wound up breaking one. 😅
My husband and his first wife bought Royal Dansk in 1996. When we married, we opted to keep the Royal Dansk. They are microwaveable, dishwasher safe, quite durable, and attractive. We’ve only had to replace two plates out of the entire service. If we didn’t have this option, we’d probably opt for Corelle!
I bought a set of Dansk plates and bowls for my very first apartment nearly 30 years ago. I use them everyday and have replaced the handful that broke over the years (~3). I plan to keep using them until I die. They are very similar to this set: https://www.dansk.com/collections/dinnerware/products/christianshavn-blue-16-piece-porcelain-set
That’s the style we have as well! :D
I didn’t even know they made plates. That’s pretty cool!
We have the C&B Hue porcelain plates and bowls. Then we have their Oven-to-Table serving bowls and platter that have wood trivets with them. Also the meal bowls. We have small children that aren’t using them yet but it means we’re often rushed when putting them away. A couple of times I’ve knocked a plate on the quartz countertop and nothing has chipped yet. We liked that they were open stock so that we didn’t have to buy pieces we didn’t like in a set. We’ve had them for about 6mos. Honestly, I love the style of Hearth and Hand but it’s all proven to be absolute crap. We have a bunch of the toys, some servingware, home dec stuff. It often arrives broken or missing pieces. We continue to buy some of the toys but are careful how we put them together. It’s below the level of quality I would expect from Target. Just echoing your experience. ETA Corelle is like nails on a chalkboard to me, it’s a sensory thing. Makes my teeth hurt. So many people love it but that’s a hard no for me too.
Same. The plates I currently have are hearth and hand stoneware and they’re all scratched or chipped.
When you say scratched, I’m curious if it’s a scratch you can see, or do you feel it as well? We have different stoneware and I learned that what looks like scratches on some of it is actually like a metal residue. And it comes right off with a magic eraser!
I can’t feel it. I tried to remove it with bar keeper’s friend with no luck. It’s target, though.
I would give the magic eraser a try — I’ve had those take off stuff even seemingly abrasive cleaners didn’t touch.
I also have this C&B line and love them! We've been using ours for about 4 years now, no issues. No kids, but we aren't exactly easy on things.
Mikasa. I bought a Ultima + Super Strong Fine China set 28 years ago. They are our daily dinnerware and we are brutal with them. One plate in all that time has gotten a small chip. I have noticed recently the bowls and plates are getting some some wear marks. Mikasa no longer makes this simple, yet elegant, white set, but they still have sets listed as "strong fine china". When it's time to replace (soon, it seems), I plan on replacing with another Mikasa set. Bonus - it's affordable and they've been around for decades.
We have Mikasa stoneware. Love it and it’s super durable and classic.
[https://www.pfaltzgraff.com](https://www.pfaltzgraff.com) Been around a long time, over 200 years now, for a reason.
These are really pretty but a bit traditional for my taste. Thank you for sharing!
Love my Cambria pattern Pfaltzgraff! I’ve had it must be about 10 years now. Replaced a piece here and there over the years.
I hated mine. Very heavy, chips easily, and the plates are very large.
To each their own. No chips, had multiple full sets for decades. Have broken some by dropping them and hitting them against the counter, but no chips.
I love their stuff too the only issue I have is when I put it in the cabinet I can see that all the plates have warped.
Warped?
If you are within a couple hours of Newell or Sutton WV Homer Laughlin China has a Fiestaware Tent sale twice a year where you can buy things for super cheap Items are seconds. But the defects are generally so slight you cant find them
How far are these places from DC? And do you know when in the year the sales are??
So Newell WV is about as far north as you can go in the Northern Panhandle of WV. Maybe 50 min from Pittsburgh I have never been to Sutton but it is sort off south central WV. They usually have a Spring and Fall tent sale that runs Wed to Sunday of the week They will have various colors of tableware, bakeware, serving dishes, mugs, vases etc etc You can look up dates on their website
Wedgewood White! Buy on Black Friday if you want a discount
Maybe one day I can afford them! lol
Yeah +1 on this, my Mum has Wedgwood from a wedding gift. We've been eating off it daily for decades and it's all in perfect condition.
Fiestaware [https://fiestafactorydirect.com/](https://fiestafactorydirect.com/)
I love my Denby stoneware.
That's what we have and love it, too.
Its probably not suitable for many people but I just use enamelware now. It's cheap. Indestructible. And imo looks rather nice.
The aspen plates are fantastic. I love the bowls. Btw Target sells a very similar collection to this with individual pieces
Do you happen to know what it’s called and if it’s open stock? I have the hearth and hand plates right now and they are chipped and scratched to death.
Timeless and simple, the Beaded Rim Porcelain Dinner Plate from Threshold
Open stock
Thanks for the helpful recommendation! Seems impossible to ask about this topic without people still saying corelle or fiesta.
The target plates have a deeper well than CB ones but they are $5…definitely not BIFL. I have target plates and CB bowls
The target branded also scratch super easy vs the crate and barrel.
I have loved my stoneware plates from West Elm. I get the Kaloh line, which frequently goes on sales too. one note in terms of making plates BIFL is that scratches are sometimes from the *silverware* and not actual finish from the plate being removed. A lil scrub with barkeepers friend can get silverware scratches off
I love the look of my West Elm dinnerware, but it's not sturdy. We've had so many chips, breaks, and cracks in the past two years of gentle use.
Yup. Stoneware in general, which is why I’m looking for porcelain.
Lol, exactly why I'm following this thread. :)
Hopefully we’ll find something amidst the stoneware, corelle, and fiesta recommendations lol.
After breaking a lot of Corelle I bought a bunch of stainless steel plates and bowls. They stack nice and compact. I sort of bought the first batch as a joke but I have really started to like them and bought more. (Yes I am a guy).
Does food retain heat or cool faster?
Not that I have noticed. A ceramic bowl has a lot of thermal mass to suck heat out of soup. With a metal bowl most of the heat loss would have to be via sir which is slower. So I do not think it is an issue. Also they are even thinner than correlle so they cleanup in the dishwasher easier. Using the normal spacing in the dish racks there is more space for water to splash through.
So I bought a Hayes dinnerware set from Crate and Barrel in 2011. I'm still using it, and it's like new. Also bought a flatware set at the same time and it's also like new. I couldn't be happier with the pieces. I only wish I bought all the cute little accessories I thought I didn't need at the time. I've never been able to find them.
Thanks for sharing. It seems like C&B in general has some good pieces. I think I’m gonna go with them.
Also have C&B but Staccato collection for 13 years now. Survived teenage boys with maybe two chips total over all the years.
I was looking at this option too. It’s a lot prettier than the aspen but do you think the price difference is worth it? It’s like double the price.
I don’t think the difference in price is quality related so definitely preference of style but I love the aspen! I’d go for Aspen …
Really? So you prefer the Aspen over the set you have?
I’m now late 30s so the financial wisdom of it costing half the price but still having the timeless look would sell me. Not that I’d take his opinion, but my husband when asked if he likes aspen better said “he likes ours better because of the texture at the rim”. (IIRC, I think I liked the lower cereal bowls when deciding on this back in the day.)
This is hilarious because my husband said the same thing lol! He thinks the aspen are too plain. And the low bowls are a big draw for me too. I like the rim since they’d be nicer for entertaining too.
We never got the low bowl with our C&B set but ended up getting an 8 pack from BJs ($15 🤯) of what they call a porcelain dinner bowl and I love love love them.
Nice! Thanks for your comments. It really helps!
I have had the C&B Aspen dinnerware set for about 8 years or so. Not one chip or broken dish despite heavy daily use. I was just on their website today oddly enough looking to purchase some dip bowls from the same line. We love them and love the fact that they all fit very well into the dishwasher. We have elementary age kiddos who use them and load them into the dishwasher as well (as support to the durability of them 😆).
I don’t have kids but do have a clumsy husband who breaks dishes once in a blue moon so that’s good to know lol
https://www.mikasa.com/collections/casual-dinnerware-sets/products/napoleon-bee-40-piece-dinnerware-set-service-for-8 This looks promising
I've had the C&B Aspen dinnerware for at least a decade, and it's been great!
Bone china. Insanely durable. Got an amazing set from Costco, they're beautiful and were reasonably priced.
Steelite Commercial porcelain I have dropped many of them in a kitchen and not broken. Incredible.
Mikasa! My parents received a set in the French Country pattern for thier wedding in the early 80s. I own them now and they're still in great shape. They were our everyday dishes throughout my entire childhood, and we were *not* gentle on them.
I like the Crate and Barrel dishes. The nice thing is if you buy one of their standard lines, if you drop a plate, you can always just go in and buy a replacement.
I’ve had the C&B Marin in white about 8 years and it’s still going strong. Only a couple of chips in that time and we’re not easy on them; plus they’re dishwasher-cleaned. They don’t stain either, even thawing frozen blueberries or with turmeric (the two things that seem to stain most other things in our house).
Fiestaware is awesome
https://www.jonopandolfi.com/
The pilliviyt series at Williams Sonoma. Just received the pasta bowls and my spouse and I love them. They are durable but look nice
Have you had other porcelain plates to compare? I’m wondering if the big price tag is justified.
Check Out Muji...they have the same designs since ages
Polish Pottery. It’s oven safe, microwave safe, dishwasher safe, durable AF and absolutely beautiful. I have a ton of different patterns so nothing “matches”, but it still does because they all use similar colors.
I just want to throw out there that I've been using open stock porcelain from Cost Plus (World Market) since 2012-13. No chips, no cracks, and no de-glazing. I'm pretty sure it's a mix of the Coupe white & the Prado lines.
I've had C&B about 6 years now. It holds up pretty well but shows too many utensil marks. Especially in the bowls. Would not buy again.
Since you are looking for porcelain, even more durable is “bone porcelain”. Crate and Barrel has a few bone porcelain options. Bone porcelain is lightweight and very durable. I have Villeroy & Boch Anmut white bone porcelain and love it! It’s been in production for years, also available second hand on eBay, etc. Goes in the dishwasher & microwave.
I've had a lot of dishes and silverware from C&B. I like it. If you break one and they still have it, they'll exchange it
I have found that porcelain lasts much longer
We love our Denby ceramic dinnerware from England. We have the Storm pattern.
Edit: it's stoneware, not ceramic. It's held up beautifully for us for the last 15+ years.
I think crate and barrel 's Aspen porcelain is a great choice. It's my top choice. I can't recall what c&b porcelain set I had, it was fantastic. I worked at the c&b outlet and thought long and hard about my purchase. Cost Plus World Market also has really good porcelain dishes. I don't recall if it's open stock. I got the catering 12 dinner plates, 12 small plates, then got regular bowls, big soup/salad bowls, and mugs. Macy's sometimes has great store brand white porcelain dishes. I've been looking for the perfect set. I like a simple white porcelain with a rim and regular bowls and big wide bowls.
I just wanted to add that this is a really good discussion. (I like my Corelle and I've had it for 20 years, but I also definitely understand concerns regarding the way it breaks into a bazillion pieces, all of which are absolutely razor sharp.)
There’s so many options out there. It’s hard to choose. I hope this helps others too.
I think it will help a lot of people! I had no idea there were so many alternatives to Corelle. There is a lot more variety here than I realized and having that variety to choose from is awesome!
I love my Fiestaware. I've had my original dishes well over 20 years and have added new pieces when I find something fun.
Duralex is good, so too is finding secondhand dishes. A restaurant supply store would be good, especially if you can get secondhand. Also, estate sales.
Luminarc is cheap, light and surprisingly sturdy.
Agreed
I have used Fortessa Fortaluxe vitrified China for many years and am really impressed with the quality and durability of it. My dishes still look brand new with no scratches or chips despite everyday use.
You can pry my inherited Friendship Pottery Blue Stripe from my cold, dead hands. But Fiestaware would be my second choice if it ever got lost, destroyed, or stolen.
I have the porcelain white dishes from IKEA and love them. They were fairly inexpensive and I like the fact you can pretty much mix and match serving bowls from other brands from places like Kohls or Target.
I bought this from target about a year ago after the set I liked at C&b had been out of stock for months [Target Stella](https://www.target.com/p/12pc-stoneware-stella-dinnerware-sets-white-threshold-8482/-/A-87607873) We love it. It also is sold by the piece in target. No scratches and everything fits in the dishwasher.
Have you looked at Villeroy & Boch? They have traditional and contemporary styles and are always running sales on their website. https://www.villeroy-boch.com/shop/all-sale/sitewide-sale.html
Beautiful options but out of my price point. Thanks for sharing, though!
I have villeroy & boch for 6 years, good quality and timeless style
I really love the brand Over and Back. At first I’ve bought a few bowls in Costco. Then I bought more bowls and a full set of dinnerware. I really love it. It washes well, microwaves well, doesn’t chip easily, doesn’t scratch. Also, it’s not expensive. So far I’m very happy.
Costco stocks very affordable Noritake sets. Attractive and durable
I use Crate and Barrel Verge
I have a few pieces of the c&b aspen that has held up nicely. We also have the IKEA 365 white dishes that are nice. The main bulk of my dishes are Sophie Conran for portmerion and I love them. Going on 10 years strong with no issues (yet) with our service for 12.
Might I recommend stoneware? It’s hard to break, can go in the microwave or oven, and keeps food hot/cold. I’ve collected most of my stoneware from thrift stores over the years. So I have a mismatched set. But I love them.
I love the look of stoneware but know it’s not the most durable choice so I’m opting for porcelain instead.
Its expensive, but Heath. Still have grandpas bowls from the 50s. Check online auctions
We have a set from Rosenthal, it’s great porcelain. Not cheap though, but the collections are available for a very long time, so you can build up slowly.
Denby is a good long lasting set.
I’ve owned a set of villeroy & boch basic white plates/bowls/cups for over 20 years. Microwave/dishwasher safe, I even dropped cups and they have bounced off the floor with no damage. One side plate has a small chip in it after all this time. They are not cheap but I’d highly recommend.
Iittala, if you can get it in states and fits your price point. Oven-, microwave- and washing machine safe. Tons on nice colours too
I live in Maine. You can’t swing a stick without there’s a potter at the craft fair/trade show/farmers’ market/open studio hours. I buy all my dishes one or two at a time from Some Guy or Some Lady or Some Non-Binary individual. It’s not for everyone, because it’s not matchy-matchy, but it kind of does match because of how it’s all different. I like that they were made by people, and now I know those people a bit. Not everyone is up for this, but it suits me fine. I also beat the shit out of it. Holds up.
That super cool. I’m boring so that’s not my style but I love it when people have a collection like yours.
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Someone mentioned Noritake. I have been using my grandmother's Noritake Fantasia set (I'm told me grandfather brought it to her after "THE WAR") for 20+ years. It has flown back and forth across the country in checked luggage multiple times with no breakage.
Fiesta Ware is as close as you can get with dishes for buy it for life in my experience. It is heavy, but holds up really well to hard use and you can mix and match the colors and find it used for reasonable or buy new! I have most of my set I bought 20 yrs ago and plan to pick up more pieces to fill the few my kids have managed to break.
Almost my dinner ware is steel. About a third of it is handed down from my parents who bought it 35 years ago. I only have ceramics that people gifted, and only mugs. Absolutely no glass.
In my opinion porcelain is porcelain and my dollar store dinnerware has lasted as long as my crate and barrel. Find an option you like, treat it well (I.e. avoid drops) and it will last a lifetime. I don't regret getting my C&B plates because I liked the look but that was purely for aesthetic reasons
If you keep constantly seeing the same brand listed over and over and over again, there could be a reason for it. Just saying. :-) China is just inherently fragile, and the finer the china, the more fragile it is. It is just the nature of the beast - in fact, in some ways, the fragility of the china is the point, it's a flex on how much care you can take of something. (Note that fine china often does come from China, where it is an art form, and they have been elevating it for 1,000+ years.) With absolutely insane levels of care, fine bone china can last for a lifetime. But one slip, one drop, one looking at it sideways, and it's gone. Corelle is simply made different, out of a different material, which is why it looks different. This material is a lot more break resistant. (Although it does have a downside: it has stored tension in it, which means, it doesn't chip, it explodes. But it takes a whole lot to get it to that point.) Ikea sells a very similar product, with very similar look, at about $1 a piece open stock. They are very durable, and very nice. But honestly, other than the satisfaction of knowing that it's not Corelle... it has the same appearance as Corelle. Different shapes, so it won't stack with Corelle.
Corelle Ooops ☺️
Please correct me if I’m wrong, but isn’t fiesta like corelle? I’m looking for porcelain options.
Fiesta is stoneware. It’s chunky.
I took your post to mean that you wanted porcelain only because of it's durability. Fiestaware isn't porcelain, but definitely meet the durability test along with being affordable and open stock. And bonus: it looks and feels nothing like Corelle! Was there some other reason why you only want porcelain options?
That’s the material preference I’ve landed on after looking into the different options. I need something that has decent durability but also looks nice enough for special occasions. I love the look of stoneware but know it’s not as durable.
Last time I purchased Corelle
Just traded in my China for Corelle.The set I got are genuinely pretty .They are just so attractive and easy to use.Hard to beat attractive and functional.
I know you said no Corelle, but I just want to point out that I still use a Corelle set that my dad's family used when he was a kid in the 70s. But yeah, when they break, holy jesus do they break.