What kind of white dishes? Porcelain? Pottery? Any particular shade of white? Rimmed? Coupe?

The most durable ones are the institutional ones that they use in schools and hospitals, restaurants and the like. They're made out of high fired stoneware, I think, and often don't break when they're dropped. They're very highly resistant to chipping as well. I've never seen dishes that didn't scratch because that's what happens when you use metal implements on a glazed surface, but the institutional dishes don't show scratches as badly as fine porcelain.

Try restaurant supply stores and make sure you're not getting the easy to break stuff, because they have those too.

W&s has their white porcelain on sale. Porcelain is beautiful and tough!

Bennington pottery is very nice I’ve not had any issues with
chipping or scratches and DH can get heavy handed with a knife.

Vitrelle glass dishes, Corelle primarily, fits your needs and I do use them for non company nothing special everyday dishes. They are not beautiful though and I use Denby stoneware and porcelain china (both carefree) for everything other than lunch by myself.

I have Sur la Table's Bistro. Not a chip, scratch, mark or lost piece anywhere in the 2 1/2 yrs since buying them. They are tough, go from dressed up in the dining room to everyday eat-in-the-kitchen use. Out to my patio, no breakage at all. No knife marks. If I had a complaint, they can be a little boring as white dishes can be. But I needed place settings for several and needed them right that minute ;) - the bistro has worked out fine. A tip though, men don't like the shape/grip/hand-fit of the mugs. I solved that with a couple of cases of clear glass hot beverage mugs from Bargreen Ellingson restaurant supply, & rarely use the mugs that came with the place settings.

I bought three sets, service for 18. They seem to be marked down to $99 approx. 3 - 4 times a year.

http://www.surlatable.com/product/PRO-7214/Bistro+24+Piece+Dinnerware+Set

Good quality porcelain is indeed very sturdy and should last a long time. Scratches shouldn't be apparent until after many years of use, if ever. Much of the lower priced stuff found in stores these days is not of the standard most expect of a true porcelain ceramic and much of it is made in the Far East. Cynically, the company with the www.gibsonusa.com website sells Asian made products.

A few years ago, I did some looking for porcelain dinnerware at restaurant supply stores in my area. All, including the more up-market ones, stocked only inexpensive Asian-made dishware. All could order better quality foodservice (not consumer) oriented lines but only in quantities too large for household use. There are a number of European manufacturers selling into these markets.

A friend owns a large and successful restaurant, I asked him what they use. He said that for years the gold standard for very nice (but less than elegant) tableware in restaurants was the Syracuse brand. The factory closed several years ago, but he said adequate notice was given so that restaurants could stock up while supplies were available. He said there's a second-hand market for Syracuse products, items become available when restaurants close.

As for us, we wound up buying an expensive European-made porcelain product that we're very happy with. Our sharp knives don't scratch the plates.

We use white corelle for everyday. I have had them about 7 years and so far none have chipped or broken. They were on sale at walmart. we bought 2 sets of the basic dishes. I have another set of dishes that we use when we entertain but they are very heavy. I like the corelle because it is so lightweight and when we clear the table I can do it one or two trips depending on how many are eating with us. Usually only 2. I also use colorful table cloths and place mats with the white dishes. I think it sets a pretty table.

Mary

I second the surlatable bistro. What i usually recommend to friends looking for a good everyday and holiday.. It seems they have stocked it for a long time so adding another few settings should not be a problem down the line. Sturdy. I think made in Portugal? (don't quote me on that).

I have restaurant good quality from a store that buys lots at auction. Just luck that i ended up with settings for 36 and four sizes of plates and four different bowls and some misc serving large bowl and platters. 15yrs now and none that i recall have broken and we are tough on it. DH loved it so much he went back, (not at all a shopper), and surprised me with another misc box of it thinking he might break some and wanted extra just in case. I use it for everyday and holidays. I have my MIL's Eva Zeisel that was an everyday when first introduce in the 50's. Lots of chips but the serving bowls are lovely and used occasionally....now re-introduced again and are another option. Not sure who is selling that now.

My elder parents have corelle now and it is so thin and a nice creamy white after years of various sets that chipped and broke easily. They even had a paper plate phase for breakfast and lunches after retirement because of the weight and chips of other stoneware failures. (that 70's phase). They have lovely wedding china and silver that is never used, just once a year. So different than our generation that never had that.

I don't find white boring. So many other ways to change the table with linens and seasonal additions. A cheap set of colorful salad plates on sale that have a season or two...i have a melamine set of lunch plates i use for the back deck and for bbq's instead of paper. Or a quick snack but we mostly use our 'everyday' restaurant bistro stuff.

Oh, i should mention to visit the Surlatable website. So many positive reviews. And why i recommend it. I was just showing it to a young co-worker today but he is set on finding a restaurant supply set similar to mine.

I have some Pfaltzgraff that Elery bought on sale at Menard's, a service for 12 was about $40 I think. I've used them for a couple of years and there are no scratches, chips or cracks and I haven't broken any although I'm careless and clumsy. I do wish they were made in the United States and I really wanted FiestaWare, but these are fine and I use them for everyday and for holidays, the "good" stuff has been packed in the pole barn since Elery sold his house in Jackson and we started remodeling my house here to get it up for sale. My new house has much less storage so I don't think I'll ever unpack the other stuff, I have no place to keep it.

Annie

I've used white corelle for over 30 years. I have had some break or craze after so many years...I just bring them back to the corning outlet and they replace them for free. The white set also has an incredible number of pieces and parts...rice bowls, soup plates, divided plates, all kinds of things.

Annie that is GREAT to know. I went solo in 2011, and used a set of pfalzgraf dishes from a friend. Bought a house in 2012, and knew, I wanted something lighter weight. Bought the white corelle, right at Thanksgiving through the walmart website, half price! Since I bought some extra bowls (at walmart), and gave away the made in China coffee mugs. Like others, I love the white, it shows the food off very nice, and looks great on what ever place-mats and table cloth I use.

Just saw some nice a-la-cart basic white on the Crate and Barrel website.

Box of 12 plates, bowls, etc for under 50bucks on the sale pages. Good reviews.

Did stop in SurLaTable soho last week and still like their basic bistro set. The serving platter is on sale at the moment.

Did not know the white corelle had so many pieces. Something my parents could use.

My everyday dishes are Corelle. I have some pieces from the 70's that look just as good as pieces I bought a few years ago, only difference is the old stuff has Harvest Gold pattern around the rim. They rarely break or chip, and none have every scratched or grazed.

White corelle. No chips or marks.

Since November I have been using Gorham Breckenridge from Macy's. It is common for them to have it on sale, sometimes as low as $99 or on some Black Fridays for $49. I have hit the plates on the edge very hard several times and been pleasantly surprised that they did not even chip. Tried to post a picture but could not get it to work, so here is a link.

http://www1.macys.com/shop/product/gorham-breckenridge-round-40-pc.-service-for-8-only-at-macys?ID=451491&CategoryID=53630&LinkType=#fn=BRAND%3DGorham%26sp%3D1%26spc%3D8%26ruleId%3D%26slotId%3D1

Years ago we noticed most cookbooks use white plates to showcase their recipes. It made food looked awesome, therefore we readily copied the idea of using white dinnerware for daily use.

Over the years we learned it does not pay to spent a fortune for high quality products, since they all chip or crack. For us finding easy replacement has become priority. We have been using Crate and Barrel's Aspen line for a long while. It is very reasonably priced for its quality. If one piece is damaged, just get one from their store, very simple and easy.

We have a set plain, white square Corelle plates with dinner & luncheon plates and bowls that I got cheap on woot.com. I use them more than any of my other dishes. I have an assortment of Corelle, along with all my other random dishes, mostly because The Kid was a klutz and they fit well in the dishwasher. I keep the Corelle dinner plates in the cookstove warming oven and they have never crazed.

I have a set of the Hotel Collection bone china from Macy's. It goes on sale for 50% off on a regular basis and may have an additional 10% off. A 4 place setting set runs between $100-115 then (currently on sale for $115. The extra discount doesn't apply now, but they have a promotion going where you get a gift card that you can spend on anything next week.). We opened a credit account and got an additional 20% off when we bought ours. Bone china feels delicate, but it is very strong. Living with 2 teen boys and a DH who is hard on things in general, I've had only one broken piece in years, and that was because something heavy was dropped right on the edge of the plate in the DW (told you DH was hard on things) . Other pieces have been dropped, banged, etc. without incident.

Porcelain in next in line, though some types are stronger than others. Pottery and stoneware are most likely to chip or mark.

I got Villeroy & Boch for my wedding nearly 10 years ago, plain white porcelain, and they still look brand new. They are our every day dishes, and not a single scratch or chip, and they've gone through some abuse (unintentional of course!).

Barkeeper's Friend and a little elbow grease remove those fork/knife scratches quite well -- I rejuvenated my decades-old set of Noritake stoneware, and they look like new. (To my mild horror, the small flowers that we'd grown accustomed to looking light grey over the years were actually white!).