Zest AI Concierge now lets users discover restaurants and book tables through text messages without opening a separate app. The new service recommends places based on dining habits, personal preferences and friends’ restaurant visits. It can also handle reservations through connected booking platforms.
The feature expands Zest’s restaurant discovery app, which launched earlier this year. Founder and CEO Mario Gomez-Hall wants conversational AI to be the primary way customers interact with the service.
How Zest AI Concierge Finds and Books Restaurants
Users can access the AI restaurant concierge by texting (212) 470-6067. They can request recommendations based on cuisine, location, dietary restrictions, occasion or personal cravings.
The assistant can answer questions about restaurant menus, Wi-Fi availability and expected crowds. It also checks table availability and arranges reservations through services including OpenTable, Resy and SevenRooms.
Zest works in group chats, allowing friends to find restaurants that suit everyone’s preferences. An in-thread voting feature helps groups choose where to eat. Once a restaurant is selected, the assistant can make the reservation without requiring users to leave the conversation.
Personalized Recommendations Based on Dining History
Unlike general-purpose AI assistants, Zest uses actual restaurant visits to understand customers’ preferences. Its mobile app connects to credit cards through Plaid, a financial technology platform that supports secure financial data connections.
Zest says it imports only food and drink transactions when building personalized restaurant maps. The information helps identify frequently visited places and recommend similar restaurants, including options in unfamiliar cities.
Connecting a payment card is optional, although recommendations may be less personalized without transaction history. Users can also discover restaurants through their friends’ dining activity.
Other platforms are introducing similar capabilities. Yelp recently expanded its AI restaurant discovery and booking tools, including automated wait-time inquiries and OpenTable integration.
Zest Looks Beyond Restaurant Reservations
Founded in November 2024, Zest has raised $1.8 million in pre-seed funding. Its investors include Alexis Ohanian’s 776 and Steve Jang’s Kindred Ventures.
The startup began testing its text-based concierge in September but delayed the launch until it could book reservations. It hopes the service will attract customers beyond its initial few thousand users.
Gomez-Hall sees restaurant bookings and future food-ordering transactions as potential revenue sources. The company is also considering expanding its AI concierge into shopping and recommendations for other businesses.
For now, Zest is focused on combining restaurant discovery, group decisions and reservations in a single text conversation. Its next challenge is turning that convenience into regular customer activity and a sustainable business.
