U.S. Navy photo by Darren Harrison Capt. Chris D. Meyer (right), commander, Naval Surface Warfare Center, Carderock Division, pays for his meal at the new cafeteria at NSF Carderock which had its soft opening March 1. The cafeteria, in Building 40, is open from 6:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday and a Subway restaurant is scheduled to be operational in time for the facility’s grand opening in April.

An estimated 300 turned out for the lunchtime ‘‘soft” opening March 1 which included a buffet and grill service.

‘‘Based on the manpower here and the number of folks standing in line to try the food, it is going exceptionally well,” said NSA North Potomac Commanding Officer Cmdr. Dennis Quick. ‘‘The food looks good. The prices are reasonable, so I think it’s going to be a winner.”

The contractor operating the cafeteria, PBE Group, is the same company that runs the Subway and Dunkin Donuts restaurants on the Washington Navy Yard.

Work to add a Subway in the cafeteria at NSF Carderock is scheduled to begin mid-March, with a grand opening expected in April.

‘‘A Subway will be going in roughly a month from now, which will give an alternative here at Carderock for employees,” Quick said. ‘‘(Today,) they have the grill and a buffet which offer a pretty good variety of food.”

As an added draw, PBE Group will be offering discounts on food. More than 162 employees sampling the selection on Monday took advantage of a $4-off coupon. The discount coupons are only available through the installation’s intranet site.

‘‘I am really happy to see how many of our employees came out here today,” said Naval Surface Warfare Center, Carderock Division Commanding Officer Capt. Chris D. Meyer. ‘‘Everybody was very happy with their opening day discounts. I think so far, as far as I can see, the reaction is very positive.”

Work on the cafeteria was completed in four days which Kenneth Klein, operations manager for PBE Group, likened to fitting four weeks of work into four days.

‘‘Working with NEXCOM and the base has just been phenomenal,” Klein said. ‘‘They have really helped us out. We wouldn’t have been able to do it in four days without their help.”

The cafeteria, in Building 40, is open from 6:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday.