Seeking Info on Dinnerware

Me too!!! I have Mikasa stoneware. After the issues from the first set I bought, I said I would never buy it again. Many years later, I bought another set, and again, lots of chipping. I thought that maybe their product had improved through the years. Our plates are just awful and our coffee mugs are cracked in the bottom of the mug, not all the way through. I had the opportunity to stay with my brother for an extended period of time (6 mos.)and we used a plain, white, inexpensive set from Wal-mart. They bought two sets of 8 place settings...they have 5 children. It never chipped! I couldn't believe it! I recently found a set at JC Penneys. I went home and looked online and many smart women posted reviews, and again, lots of chipping. Good Luck! I am going to watch your post for all the good advice that you are going to get!

Corelle is great - durable and chip resistant.

One note on stoneware: I recently noticed that my stoneware is cracking and chipping and it's less than 3 years old. One day, while microwaving something on a plate (which says "microwave safe") I heard a weird pop noise. I took the plate out and found a brand new crack in it. I now know that my microwave and my stoneware don't agree for whatever reason and that's why almost everything now has cracks and chips. So, if you go start to find cracks and chips and you know the piece hasn't been dropped or abused, it's probably your microwave that's the culprit.

I use solid white corelle for everyday. I know....boring....but very functional. I do use my fine Wedgewood when I want to have something special. My pattern of Wedgewood is discontinued and I have to get any pieces from www.replacements.com

We don't use the coffee cups and saucers. There is an outlet at Grapevine Mills (Corning/Corelle)and you can buy it by the piece which is what we did when we wanted to get lighter weight, durable dinnerware. I have about 30 pieces of the things we use most (never run out!), and then I added with other items like larger bowls, serving plates, etc. This had worked well for us.

I have not had any pieces chip but I have had a few pieces break when dropped on my tile floor.

Good Luck!

I'd be curious to know how old your Pfaltzgraff set is because I've had their "Grapevine" design for about 6-7 years now and I don't have 1 single chip on any of the dishes. Even the serving pieces that I have all still look practically new. I'm wondering if they break down after a certain amount of usage or if it was just your particular pattern that may have had some production issues or something. We have a service for 12 and we often use disposable plates when the food allows for it for easy clean up so maybe we circulate them more, therefore using them less and that's why we've had no problems with chipping yet.

Because of my good luck (knock on wood) with Pfaltzgraff, that's what I'd want to buy again if I were to buy new, but I'm a bargain shopper so I'd probably just buy what I could find that I liked that was cheap. I guess we're not too hard on dishes around here 'cause the set we gave to my oldest son when he moved out of the house 2 years ago was the set we got when my husband and I got married and it was a cheap, "Black Friday" set we got from Walmart back in the mid-90s. There weren't any chips or cracks on those stoneware dishes either when we gave them to my son. Again, it was a service for 12, and we're only a family of 5, if that makes any difference.

My mom bought Corelle from the outlet store at Grapevine Mills Mall recently and she loves those. She was using clear pink glass dishes (I'm thinking there were kind of like thinner Pyrex type dishes) before she bought the Corelle and they lasted her about 20 years. They are actually still usable. She just wanted something more modern so she got the square dishes in Corelle.

Blessings,
N.

I have been really happy with my plain white set from IKEA. It was about $30 for the whole set. I use it daily and have had no problem with chipping. It's just white, but they also had some colors and patterns. I love IKEA :)

I had stoneware when my husband and I first got married, but it wasn't durable at all. We decided to buy Corelle because that is what my husband said his mom used when he was little and that it was very strong. So we did and I love it. NO chipping or cracking or anyting, it's very good for families. They have many different styles to choose from too. I bought my at the outlet store at Grapevine Mills Mall, but Walmart carried that brand too. I'm not sure who else does though.

I hope you find what you are looking for!