The Best Silverware Sets (2024) Reviewed by Our Experts

Generally speaking, when we review gear, we’re looking for top performers for tasks like mixing, crisping, and cutting. But narrowing down the best silverware set is much more subjective. Because unless they’re oddly shaped for artistic aesthetic purposes, most tableware does exactly what it’s supposed to do: move food from a plate or bowl to your mouth. Ideally, it will come out of the dishwasher intact.

The best silverware sets

Check out the rest of our recommended sets

In addition to being a practical tool, good silverware can feel good in your hand and enhance your tablescape—both of which come down to personal preference. So to help narrow down your choices, I’ve reviewed six of the most popular, top-rated sets you can order online and have been using in my own home for at least a few weeks.

Below, you’ll find my (admittedly subjective) take on the best silverware sets to buy right now, whether you want something classic, modern, or something in between.

BA’s favorite tableware: Made In

If you’re looking for solid and timeless silverware, let me introduce you to restaurant-quality dinnerware from DTC brand Made In. Made In produces cookware and tableware in sustainable manufacturing facilities around the world, with mirror-polished tableware sourced from Italy. It’s nicely curved, heavy to hold but not too heavy, and it doesn’t have any fancy frills. And because of the high quality, the price is great; a 20-piece set (four five-piece place settings) costs just under $200. I’ve been using this as my daily dinnerware set since I first tested it out in 2022, and I can’t imagine I’d want to swap it out for anything else. Most of my pieces are washed in the dishwasher at least once a day and they still look great years later with very little signs of wear.

Best Budget Dinnerware Set: Oneida Colonial Boston

If this piece of early American style dinnerware looks familiar, it probably is. Although the form has been minimally altered for a more modern design aesthetic, it’s nearly identical to the Onedia dinnerware set that graced many honey oak dining tables in the 1980s and 1990s. The Modern Colonial Boston Dinnerware is made from 18/10 stainless steel with brushed satin handles, which are admittedly a little prone to scratches (but hey, the scratches might just add to the vintage vibe). This affordable dinnerware comes in a 20-piece set (serves 4) or a 45-piece set (serves 8, plus a spoon, perforated spoon, sugar spoon, fork and butter knife). Boston Colonial dinnerware is also available in stock, which means you can buy extra spoons, forks, and knives instead of buying four full tableware pieces.

Best Modern Silver Set: Fortessa Jaxson

It’s cool to take abstract reinventions of everyday objects, but if I can’t fill it with a big mouthful of salad, I don’t want a fork that looks like a cybertruck. In fact, I didn’t want a fork that looked like a Cybertruck, even though I could fit more than one bean on its three little tines. That’s why, for those of you with a more abstract aesthetic, I offer Fortessa Jackson, a modern tableware that combines functionality with functionality. The slim, four-sided handle is medium-weight and gives the collection a modern look. It’s available in polished or brushed handles (I prefer brushed). What’s more, as long as you don’t mind a perfectly rounded spoon head, the parts that are supposed to cut and move food are actually fine.

Best Mixed Material Silver Set: Mepra Fantasia

Mixed-material dinnerware (wood or resin handles, metal tines) is an easy way to add visual interest to your table setting, but most of the dinnerware you’ll find online is low-quality or high-maintenance. Colorful bistro-style items look cheap, and wooden-handled cutlery often needs to be hand washed. But there’s also Mepra’s popular Fantasia series. Made from 18/10 stainless steel with resin handles, this high-quality Italian-made dinnerware comes in a variety of colors (options vary by retailer), is durable and dishwasher safe. Overall, the pieces are noticeably smaller than most other kits I tested, especially the “teaspoon,” which is very small and looks more like a sugar spoon. It may be ridiculously small, but it’s actually my favorite little spoon for eating yogurt or ice cream and stirring lattes.

Best lightweight silverware set: Henckels Alcea

Weight can indicate quality, but heavy-duty cutlery isn’t always ideal when it comes to accessibility. So if you’re looking for a lightweight product that looks and feels great, Henckels’ 18/10 mirror polished Alcea is a great choice. Henckels is a sub-brand of Zwilling/JA Henckels that generally offers similar products at a lower price (both are probably best known for their knife sets). Depending on where you shop, you can buy a 60-piece set of these durable, lightweight dinnerware for about $100 to $120.

Best Semi-Formal Silver Set: Lenox Pearl Platinum

While “silverware” and “cutlery” are used interchangeably to refer to forks, knives, and spoons, everything I’m testing here is Technically tableware. To truly qualify as silverware or “silver flatware,” these items need to be made of silver or at least silver-plated, and I didn’t test any sterling silver flatware sets. That is, if you want something It seems Just like it might be from Tiffany, but you don’t have the $1,300 to spend on a dinnerware set, the Lenox Pearl Platinum dinnerware offers a similarly elegant look with a mirror finish and minimal embellishment. While the handle is hollow, the rest of the parts are well weighted, and Lenox offers a limited lifetime warranty against defects.

If you want dinnerware, the best silverware sets include: Mikasa French Countryside

Mikasa may be best known for its colorful vintage and modern dinnerware sets, but the brand actually has something for all your tabletop needs, including cutlery, servingware, drinkware, and flatware. If you like the shiny Lenox dinnerware above, but would rather spend your money on something that includes dinnerware, consider Mikasa’s French Countryside. The two sets are visually very similar (the Mikasa is slightly more decorative), but both the 45-piece and 65-piece Mikasa sets come with the standard 5-piece plate set and 5-piece cutlery set (spoons, perforated cutlery), spoons, cold meat fork, sugar spoon, butter knife).

How we picked the best dinnerware sets

Most of the equipment we test and review here has to work in some way (think a blender for making smoothies, an air fryer for frying chicken nuggets, or a chef’s knife for mincing garlic and breaking down squash). But unless the shape is odd for artistic aesthetic purposes, the cutlery will generally be used as intended.