LPT: Stoneware dishes that you can get at a dollar store (in my experience thus far) are just as durable, if not more so, than their department store counterparts.

Grandma here, I've had all kinds of dishes over the years, the vitrified porcelain being the best I've had. But if you have kids and grandkids, no matter what you buy a lot of your dishes are going to get abused and eventually broken. The "just for now" plates I've bought at a dollar store have chipped less than much more expensive department store sets I've owned.