Jason Dilts, the popular Mercer County chef known for his boom boom chicken and his short rib mac and cheese, is back in business.
“Chef Jason” opened his latest culinary venture, Porto by Chef Jason, on Thursday, Oct. 16. The restaurant is in the same building as Dilts’ previous restaurant, Louie’s by Chef Jason, which closed in the summer.
The new BYOB restaurant will feature seasonal dishes made with locally grown ingredients. Many customer favorites are set to feature on the new menu, including the boom boom chicken (a chicken cutlet in vodka sauce with rigatoni), the mac and cheese and the cherry pepper glazed calamari appetizer.
The restaurant is set to be open for dinner seven days a week. See the website, portobychefjason.com, for more details.
Dilts and his previous business partner, Dominic Maglione, operated Louie’s by Chef Jason in Robbinsville from 2022 until closing in the summer. Since then, Maglione and Dilts have gone their separate ways.
According to Chris Rollins at WPST, the new restaurant takes its name from Dilts and his new business partner, Elizabeth Porto.
Also according to Rollins, Maglione is now working as a catering manager at the Mercer County Boathouse.
FROM THE ARCHIVES: The Cult and Culture of Louie’s by Chef Jason
In August, after Louie’s by Chef Jason had closed, a member of the Facebook group “Mercer Food to Go” shared a post from the private “Around Robbinsville” Facebook group, purported to be from Jason Dilts:
“To keep it simple, it’s in an old building we had planned to use for a couple years while the landlord works on a new location. By no one’s fault, I may have to extend the stay here longer than anticipated. I met with the landlord today and we are working together to make it a more comfortable home for a few more years or finding a better one, I’ll update more on Monday when we meet up again, til then I’m heading to the beach for a much needed unplanned vacation.
I am sorry for the inconveniences this may have caused anyone, it happened unexpectedly. I was waiting for better information before making an announcement.
PLEASE reach out to me privately and I’ll make sure to make right on my end going forwards.
I appreciate everyone’s on going support through my life’s journey and will always do my best to be cooking close to home with all of you. Everyone have a great weekend, I’ll have better information for you next week.”
The new restaurant has opened in the same location as the previous one, but Dilts has reported that the interior has undergone significant renovations since the spring.
On the Porto by Chef Jason Facebook page, Dilts has said in response to multiple queries that gift cards for the old restaurant would be honored at the new one.
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Jason Dilts grew up in Robbinsville, but his chef’s journey began at DiMattia’s, in Allentown, when he was 14. There, the son of Ken and Mary Dilts started as a busboy and, given a chance, proved himself a capable cook.
He graduated from Robbinsville High in 2011, and continued to hone his skills in kitchens while attending Virginia Radford University. After college, he worked at FunniBonz BBQ, then LoLa Restaurant in Robbinsville, where he rose to the position of chef-partner with owner Mark Longo.
He left LoLa to work as head chef at Zinna’s Bistro in Cranbury and later, at the popular Revere Ristorante Italiano on River Road in Ewing. It was while he was at Revere that he first met Brian Maglione, who became one of Dilts’ best customers.
He left Revere to start his own restaurant, Chef Jason’s 1275, in the former Zinna’s space, with Zinna’s having moved to a new location.
Chef Jason 1275 thrived until closing abruptly in May 2022. Dilts wrote on Facebook that he had closed the restaurant because the landlord was selling the building. Later that year, he and Dominic Maglione joined forces to open Louie’s, which remained in business until summer 2025.
Porto by Chef Jason. 1111 U.S. 130 North, Robbinsville. Phone: (609) 960-7887
