Customer Reviews

Fiesta 4-Piece Place Setting, Black

5 star:		(152)
4 star:		(23)
3 star:		(19)
2 star:		(7)
1 star:		(16)

 

 

I've had the same set of white porcelain dinnerware for 18 years. These dishes were joined a few years ago by my husband's black stoneware dishes, and I quickly realized that food looked a LOT better on his dishes. Since that time, the menfolk (husband & 14 y/o stepson) have chipped, cracked or otherwise broken several pieces of my dinnerware set. Thus upon a recent significant birthday, I decided I was going to buy myself a new set of dinnerware as a present.

I loved the way food looked on the black plates, and wanted dishes colorful enough to stand up to my deep red dining room. The dishes had to be tough enough to stand up to the menfolk, be dishwasher friendly and microwave safe. I soon settled on Fiestaware. I loved the assortment of colors and serving pieces and the possibility of mixing and matching colors and pieces. A big plus was the variety of places to order them online, allowing me to avoid the dreaded mall. I did make one trip to a local kitchen store to look over the colors in person, as I know the accuracy of color representation online is iffy.

I ordered 4-piece place settings from Amazon in plum, persimmon, turquoise, sunflower and cinnabar (I'm still waiting on the sunflower). I added a matching boullion cups, the pedestal bowl in plum, serving pieces from the Betty Crocker catalog in juniper, and dinner plates in chartreuse from Ebay. The colors are absolutely scrumptious, and with all those colors I can mix and match to suit my mood, my outfit, the dish I am serving, the weather or any combination of the above. The dishes are attractively designed, and fit well in the dishwasher. The mugs are amazingly comfortable to hold (I wasn't sure they would be), and the cereal bowls are generous in size. There are numerous shapes and kinds of serving dishes to accompany the dinnerware, which will make it hard to stop adding to the collection. And did I mention I love the colors?

Most of the place settings arrived very quickly, with the longest wait for the sunflower. Amazon shipped for free, and the boxes arrived in excellent condition with no breakage, just lots of cardboard to recycle, so no complaints on that. I've been using most of the dishes now for about a month.

Now for the downside, and I'm sorry to say there is one. Apparently Fiestaware has a long history of production flaws. Several of my dishes arrived with glazing flaws such as debris in the glaze, glaze pops and skips. Amazon exchanged quickly and easily, no complaints there, but one of the replacements, the persimmon boullion cup, arrived with an even worse flaw. It looks like Homer Laughlin China needs to do some significant work on their quality control. Others have mentioned that the dark colors show some scratches from use, and unfortunately I have to agree. To date, however, the scratches are not significant enough that I'm overly concerned, after all these dishes get used daily and tossed in the dishwasher.

On the whole, I love these dishes, and am happy with purchase. They were reasonably priced and will offer years of service. If the thought of a few scratches on the plates, or a few pieces with production flaws, concerns you, though, I suggest you consider different dinnerware. I'd give Fiestaware 5 stars if they could clean-up their production act; until then 3 will suffice.

I really love this stuff. When I got married my husband was unwilling to part with his old chipped dishes. Over years of looking at different dishes, he found a reason for rejecting them all--wrong color, wrong shape, wrong material, etc. Finally I presented him with this (in Cobalt) and we found something we could agree on!

No question that this was worth waiting for. It is very durable, with no chipping problems. It's heavyweight and beautiful, so even without formal china (and who really uses that anymore?) we can still set a lovely table... Plus it shares one big advantage with formal china--a huge array of matching completer pieces. Even better, you can find it in department stores everywhere. Open stock is readily available, so even if I did manage to break one I could easily replace it.

I also find it fun to constantly see the same dinnerware I use at home on the table in restaurants and in TV shows/commercials.

I bought a special exclusive five piece setting, which is the same as this but with the addition of the fruit bowl. I thought I'd never use it, but that fruit bowl is probably the most used piece! Perfect for a single serving of ice cream (the regular bowls are huge), a boiled egg, snack nuts, etc. There are lots of special pieces like this.

I was concerned that the cereal bowl wouldn't stack and would be a problem to store, but it nests just enough to easily fit a stack of eight in my little cabinets.

Do note: if you want to keep buying matching pieces or think you might need replacements later on, be sure to buy one of the standard colors, not a special limited edition color. Also, at least on my screen, what shows as cobalt here looks NOTHING like the real color. It is actually a very deep, glossy dark blue, which in certain light also has suggestions of purple or even black.

For those of you that are new to the Fiesta Ware line by Homer Laughlin Corporation (HLC), this is NOT a knock-off of the original production. This new line of Fiesta Ware - manufactured by HLC - is primarily produced with the original molds used to produce the product for over the past 60 years or so.

New Fiesta Ware is made of a vitrifed china which requires a higher firing temperature than the oringal line which was made of semi-vitrified china. Vitrified china appeals to the restaurant industry, a large part of HLC's customer base. (Next time you are in a restaurant, peek under the plate to see the name of the manufacturer - it will probably be HLC!) However, to accomodate shrinkages caused by the higher temperature, mold changes had to be done to the lids and 10.5" plates.

Restaurants use Fiesta Ware and other HLC china because of its durability. I have been using the new Fiesta Ware for every meal, every day for the past 13 years and have only broken a few things. (Thankfully, they usually survive the drop into my cast-iron/enamal sink without a scratch.)

As far as manufacturing flaws are concerned, you will find them. They may included variations in the depth of color or a glazed-over "bump" in the china. (Anyone that has collected older Fiesta Ware will tell you that these same flaws exist in the older pieces as well.) If you are particular, check your product! If you don't like it exchange it. However, I have found flaws to be more uncommon than common, and those that I find are fairly minor and not bothersome.

HLC has added new items to the line, again, mostly for the restaurant trade; however, they are welcome additions to any kitchen. My personal favorite is the 12" rimmed bowl which is great for a big serving of pasta!

Bottom line: In my opinion, this is a wonderfully durable, colorful and fun line of china - enjoy it for a long time!

The beauty of Fiestaware is that you can mix and match any of their colors, and they all look great. With the new Cinnabar color, you can even have red (cinnabar), white, and blue (cobalt) dishes! This dinnerware is vitrified (for strength and durability) like many of the more expensive brands of dinnerware (such as Longaberger), but much more affordable. Nice deep bowls (not those whimpy flat things), and great sized mugs makes Fiesta a pleasure to put on the table. Made in the USA, so we can be assured that the glazes used are lead-free and safe. There are a million reasons Fiesta has been around since before my grandma was born, but the bottom line is quality!

I've had my Fiestaware for over ten years now and I never get tired of it! I purchased it in my first marriage and got it all in the divorce. I have since remarried - when I was completing my bridal registry I had absolutely no wish to register for dinnerware. What can I say? A classic American design, and it comes in a rainbow of colors...you can keep all one color or mix and match (as I did). And these dishes are DURABLE -- I have not broken a single one! In addition, they are great sizes -- the cereal bowls, especially. And what a great value!

I absolutely could not decide which color or mix of 2 colors to pick when I was shopping for fiestaware so I bought one place setting each of 9 different colors (I skipped the white, black and grey since they weren't colorful enough!), I was worried about what my table would look like but it looks WONDERFUL! There is no way I could possibly get bored with fiestaware (I've been going through a set of dishes every other year in the past because of boredom!) I think these are definately a keeper!

updating my review here several years later (10/24/2010)! STILL using the fiestaware, I collect the new colors as they come out, I can't believe I've been using the same dishes for ten years and I'm still not sick of them. And amazingly, only a couple things have broken in 10 years. Love my fiestaware!

Many years ago, I bought fine, expensive china...only to find that I worried constantly when I used it, and it really didn't go with most of my table linens. Plus I had to have the stoneware for when I didn't want to use the expensive stuff.

I got smart, got rid of all of it, and for the past 7 years, all I've had is my wonderful Fiestaware.

It looks GREAT, goes with ANYTHING, wears like iron, and there are all kinds of extra pieces whenever I want something special. Not only that, but there's a color for any mood I happen to be in (yes, I got mine in assorted colors).

The only downside I can see is that if the Fiestaware people keep issuing wonderful new colors every year, I will have a stack of dishes 10 feet high.

It's so incredibly cool that my daughter had to have the same thing when she got married (and anything that can overcome the uncoolness of what your mom had must be extraordinary, right?).

I have three small children and use Fiestaware for my everyday dishes. No chips or cracks with LOTS of everyday abuse including when my 4 year old unloads the dishwasher and knocks them together. Only one broken piece so far when my one year old kicked his sisters bowl off of the table. If only I could keep him from climbing!! At least it did not shatter when it hit the floor like my other dishes did. Also, easy to replace!
One thing to be aware of, I recieved 8 sets for Christmas and 3 had to be returned because the handle of the mug was not completely covered in glaze at the point of attachment. Amazon made the exchange quick and easy! (I noticed this defect at department stores as well)
I have admired the look of Fiestaware for years but only recently discovered that it was so affordable and durable. I would highly recommend Fiestaware for family use!

This place setting is wonderful! Not only is it great looking, it's durable (I'm not the most careful dishwasher). I love the clean, simple designs. And while we have the white Fiestaware, I've seen the other colors and they would certainly brighten up any kitchen. I'd recommend this as great everyday-ware -- in white or any color!

Since buying my first piece of Lilac Fiestaware I have been hooked. I have 16 different place settings and even the colors you think wouldn't look good together, display beautifully on a table. We love to mix and match every color and when our guest see the table, the compliments are just as colorful as the dishes. Everyday is different and fun!!!