I tend to favor the i-dine restaurants , most of which are decent

(not Idine)
China King
in Falls Church, and Herndon
good takeout about $5

In Herndon at the Mall at Elden Street and the Toll road
there is 2 great options
(both not i-dine)
Charlie Chiangs - chinese and mongolian bbq
a Japanese Restuarant/sushi Bar which has an all you can eat buffet lunch

if you like thai
this is the place as there is a small thai restauarnt war going on
futherdown Elden street at the 2nd intersection of Elden and the herndon parkway, is a non idine Thai place which runs 2-1 coupons in the area duning magazine

futher down, near where elden intersects fairfax county parkway, across from the hotel, there is a very good I-dine Thai place, no 2-1 meals, but this month it was 12.5 miles /dollar

on rt 7, just past the fairfax county line, in the shooping center with the food lion is Tup Tim Thai, if you shop in the giant at Rt 7 and Dranesville, your reciept will have a 2-1 coupon on it. The way to get your idine miles is that i go once a month and buy 4 - $25 gift certificates, then use the gift certificate when I use the coupon. so i get the 1000 miles when i get the certificates.

in the next mall up, on the same side of the street is Chengs, also a great place, but as of last month the were no longer in I-dine

before you reach Chengs on the other side of the street is Pacific, they are also no longer in I-dine, but is ranked as one of the top 50 restautrants in the area. they serve Pan-Asian which earns on their menu they have items from china, japan, malaysia , etc, etc

Bo apettit

PS
BUT I STILL LOVE THE CHEESECAKE FACTORY