Favorite everyday dishes?

[KimJ]

So when I switched the kids over to real plates, I got 2 sets at the Dollar Tree. One is all white & the other is white with gold trim. They've really held up.

I never would have thought to check Dollar Tree. I will have to see what they have.

I'm no help, I have plain white Ikea plates and bowls. They were cheap, they are dishwasher and microwave safe. Our bowls look new. Our plates have weird scratches after 5 years of use. So, I don't know that they would last you that long. The bowls still look fine, it's just the plates.

I've actually never been to Ikea. There is one about an hour from me though. My Pfaltzgraff also has those marks, but I'm too lazy to try to clean them off.

Fiesta is my recommendation: American-made, lots of color choices as well as dish sizes/side pieces. A few patterns for holidays etc if you want some fun.

I'm with Sara- I LOVE Fiestaware! We got a bunch of the 4 piece sets (in rainbow colors!) for our wedding 14 years ago & besides a few that have been lost or broken over the years- they hold up & still look great! I add a few specialty pieces once a year or so- so now I have a lot of fun platters, big bowls, etc

I've heard of Fiesta, but I don't know anything about it, so I will have to check it out.

Now the entertaining set is our everyday set, and that works fine because it wasn't that fancy to begin with--at least we knew that wasn't us! Anyway, our "new" set is Mikasa Midnight. One of my favorite things about it is that it's mostly white with a little black near the rim. When there's something that we want to add to the set (like platters or small cereal bowls) it looks fine with any solid white and solid black pieces. So I highly recommend basic, easily found colors like that if you think you'll be using them long term.

Oh, that's a great pattern! DH and I picked this really ornate flowery sort of deco china as our fancy dishware and it is so NOT us anymore! We used two place settings maybe two or three times and the rest are still in their original sleeves! We've talked about selling it to clear up some space, but we haven't put any effort into figuring out how we would do that yet.

 

[Tree City]

@KimJ and @amien1 there is a factory in West Virginia, basically across the river from Ohio. They have a showroom and a "Seconds Room" where you can get not-exactly-perfect pieces for a song. (Sometimes I literally can't tell why it's a factory second instead of a "first quality" piece. I got a 4-piece dinner set from Macy's and the dinner plate had a missing spot of glaze. I picked up a dinner plate at the seconds room without a flaw. *shrug*). Anyway, I love it there and I'm ridiculously bummed I couldn't make it to their tent sale this year. Anyway, Kim, if you decide to go with Fiesta, you can get it other places besides their factory lol. Macy's, BBB, and Kohl's sell it. You can also order from their website.

@bestcee Yeah, IDK why I didn't think of BKF sooner. Hopefully it works just as well for you!

 

[FarrahJobling]

Our everyday dishes are from our wedding...plain white from Crate and Barrel. I would love some fiestaware dishes...which I might get once all of these ones break....but I'm not all that picky.

 

[janedee]

I picked up two sets of cream Denby stoneware a few years ago at Costco. They were half the price they would have been anywhere else and they’re still going strong.

 

[tkradtke]

But back to the OP: @KimJ Fiesta is my recommendation: American-made, lots of color choices as well as dish sizes/side pieces. A few patterns for holidays etc if you want some fun.

We have Fiesta here at our place in Michigan and I love it... I inherited it from my grandmother (it's a newer set not the old/rare stuff). I love the fun colors.

I don't have a specific plate recommendation--when we got married in 1998 we registered for an everyday set of dishes and a set for entertaining. Well, DH and I forgot to take into account that we hate entertaining! So that second set just sat around until about 2 years ago, when our everyday set really needed to be replaced. Now the entertaining set is our everyday set, and that works fine because it wasn't that fancy to begin with--at least we knew that wasn't us! Anyway, our "new" set is Mikasa Midnight.

^^THIS!!! This is totally our story as well! Except we got married in 1997 We registered for a stoneware everyday set and a "fancy" set for entertaining. That stoneware chipped so easily! Anyway... in one of our moves we were packing up the chipped stoneware and the "just like new" entertaining set and decided to ditch the stoneware and start using our fancy set as everyday! That set was Mikasa Italian Countryside... it's really not all that fancy, so it works well for everyday use and it is really tough stuff!!

 

[bellbird]

I love seeing everyone's fancy (to me) crockery b/c our main basics are white (I heard it was good for any food photography just like white paper does with anything scrapwise so that was my only criteria for buying the last set a few years back) . We have a basic white Corelle set, they look thin & fragile but seem tough (although the coffee mugs that came with it seem completely different)
And I don't know what we've done wrong, but I dropped an older melamine bowl and cracked it last week so it's not foolproof to me - maybe that was just it's way of saying DS is 11, give him a real bowl already!
And I'm also aghast there are still people in the world that haven't been to an Ikea! We've probably saved a bit of money though not having been since before the March

 

[Iowan]

I used to have Pfaltzcraft heritage but the white plates were gray with all the scratches. They would looked scratched even after one meal after having been cleaned. I gave them to my niece and replaced them with Pottery Barn porcelain dishes, Great White, Coupe pattern. I like these so much more and love the huge variety of fun accessories that you can find to coordinate with them at other stores including Pier 1, Target, IKEA, BB and Beyond, and even museum gift shops. Have fun with you search.

 

[QuiltyMom]

After purchasing a Cafeware set from Crate and Barrel - and not being able too get exact replacements for broken pieces (they change the set every year... grrrr), we splurged and purchased Fiesta Ware. The main reason was because we can easily replace pieces when something breaks since they've used the same production molds since the company started. We got eight different color sets to mix things up. And if a particular color isn't being made anymore when we need to replace a piece, we just find something close. No one's the wiser! I've been really happy with them.

ETA: I should also say I got a fantastic deal purchasing from the Fiesta online store at Black Friday - with free shipping! I purchased my original plates through Macy's at half price, but they no longer carry the salad plate open stock, which the Fiesta store carries. And I also found they have more selection than Macy's.

 

[cookingmylife]

This is our only china - everyday and 'good' - which I got while living in England, Royal Worcester Evesham. I had other (total sets!) of Wedgewood but I let my xh have them as he was still living a life of formal entertaining. I do have some of this Evesham withered rims, no gold, but those are the only things dh insists on as he is forever heating most anything in the micro. After 20 years in the dishwasher, the gold has almost washed away on some of the items but I don't care. The price was unbelievable, a long long story. DH has only broken one item so he knows now as I showed him the replacement costs! btw, I got some extra items in NC at Replacements when I had an odd # of bowls. cf - the long story!

 

[sakura-panda]

I'm a Corelle girl. We had our last set for over 20 years, before our house fire last year (when I lost everything I had in the kitchen. ) Our original pattern was "Spanish Gate", which was discontinued shortly after we were married; I supplemented it with individual pieces from "Enhancements".

When I went to replace my dishes, I went back to the Corelle Store and decided on "Kyoto Leaves". The image print is different than my old plates -- I don't know how to describe it, but there is a different feeling when scraping a fork along it, but we are otherwise pleased with it. However, if I did it again, I would probably choose a patterned white instead of one with a print.

 

[jk703]

So, when I got married... I chose this. We aren't gardeners, growers, or bird people. Who knows wth I was thinking? But, they have lasted, and we currently use them till they break or chip away.

We also have a set of Lenox China floating around the house somewhere, all packed up and it has gold filigree edges. It was a gift from my grandmother... she had too many china sets apparently... and it can't go in the microwave... cause gold. It's sorta like this but worse... so if anyone wants... let me know, lol!

My grandmother passed away and somehow I received ANOTHER set of plates galore. I have a tea pot and coffee pot with little fancy lids!!! These are nice, and after the Pfaltzgraff die, we will use these, probably... I'm not spending money when I have oodles of plates!

If I had my choice again, I would go with simple. and maybe square... I kinda like square when I visit friends or go out to eat.... Who knows... cause it's not happening!

 

[KimJ]

Thanks so much for all of the feedback. It's so fun to see what everyone has! It makes me want to drag out my crazy not-me china to show you all.

I haven't left the house yet to go look at any in person. After all of my online looking, currently I'm leaning towards another Corelle set – Lia.

They supposedly have it in stock at the Walmart here in my town, and it's very affordable. Even with having to buy lunch plates separately, it would be less than $100 to get 8 full place settings. If I see it in person and hate it, I'm not sure what my plan B will be. LOL I wish there was an actual Corelle store nearby, but as far as I can tell, there aren't any in the entire state of Texas.

 

[QuiltyMom]

This is our only china - everyday and 'good' - which I got while living in England, Royal Worcester Evesham. I had other (total sets!) of Wedgewood but I let my xh have them as he was still living a life of formal entertaining. I do have some of this Evesham withered rims, no gold, but those are the only things dh insists on as he is forever heating most anything in the micro. After 20 years in the dishwasher, the gold has almost washed away on some of the items but I don't care. The price was unbelievable, a long long story. DH has only broken one item so he knows now as I showed him the replacement costs! btw, I got some extra items in NC at Replacements when I had an odd # of bowls. cf - the long story!

This is what my in-laws had! We almost took the remaining pieces when they moved into a retirement community, but we passed on it since it wasn't a full set. We didn't have the extra room to store it. But they sure are pretty!

 

[KimJ]

I have some plain white dishes with an embosses pattern that are simple and still kinda elegant for everyday use and for thanksgiving type meals too. Here's what I have and I love them. I did just buy a few more plates last week because my kids have broken a couple here and there and we always seemed to be short on plates....

Corelle Bella Faenza
They are only $5.50(ish) at the store

I wanted to update and say thanks for the recommendation, @Karen! The Lia ended up being a much duller blue in person than in the photos, and I just didn't love it. I still was having a hard time reconciling the Bella Faenza with my own style, since all of the photos I saw had it in a very feminine setting, and that's just not us. And then I noticed that the pattern is actually very similar to the embossed accent tiles on our backsplash. That was all I needed to flip the mental switch, and I described them to DH that way before he ever saw them to set his expectations.

I got two sets, and we've been using them since Thanksgiving. It's great having 12 place settings without extra pieces we don't need. The bowls are a little wider than our old ones, so it required some rearranging in the cupboard, and I'm still experimenting with finding the best way to fit them in the dishwasher, but we're very happy with them so far. I never would have considered them without your suggestion, so thanks again!

 

[Karen]

I wanted to update and say thanks for the recommendation, @Karen! The Lia ended up being a much duller blue in person than in the photos, and I just didn't love it. I still was having a hard time reconciling the Bella Faenza with my own style, since all of the photos I saw had it in a very feminine setting, and that's just not us. And then I noticed that the pattern is actually very similar to the embossed accent tiles on our backsplash. That was all I needed to flip the mental switch, and I described them to DH that way before he ever saw them to set his expectations.

I got two sets, and we've been using them since Thanksgiving. It's great having 12 place settings without extra pieces we don't need. The bowls are a little wider than our old ones, so it required some rearranging in the cupboard, and I'm still experimenting with finding the best way to fit them in the dishwasher, but we're very happy with them so far. I never would have considered them without your suggestion, so thanks again!

Yay!! I’m so glad you like them! That’s actually pretty cool that they kinda match your back splash too. Fun!

 

[elseepe]

Thanks so much for all of the feedback. It's so fun to see what everyone has! It makes me want to drag out my crazy not-me china to show you all.

I haven't left the house yet to go look at any in person. After all of my online looking, currently I'm leaning towards another Corelle set – Lia.

They supposedly have it in stock at the Walmart here in my town, and it's very affordable. Even with having to buy lunch plates separately, it would be less than $100 to get 8 full place settings. If I see it in person and hate it, I'm not sure what my plan B will be. LOL I wish there was an actual Corelle store nearby, but as far as I can tell, there aren't any in the entire state of Texas.

I love these. Maybe I’ll upgrade once we can get moved. I’ve had multiple sets of ceramic/stoneware plates, but I always go back to my plain white Corelle for everyday. It is just so much easier to deal with, it’s almost indestructible. But if it hits the tile floor in just the right way, the explosion can be spectacular!

 

[Karen]

I love these. Maybe I’ll upgrade once we can get moved. I’ve had multiple sets of ceramic/stoneware plates, but I always go back to my plain white Corelle for everyday. It is just so much easier to deal with, it’s almost indestructible. But if it hits the tile floor in just the right way, the explosion can be spectacular!

Sadly I know EXACTLY what you mean about the spectacular exploding on these plates on tile floors. My boys have broken several of my plates on our tile kitchen floor. Those shards fly everywhere! Eek!