Zest Adds a Text-Message AI Concierge That Books Restaurant Tables
The restaurant discovery startup now answers texts, settles group-chat votes and reserves through OpenTable, Resy and SevenRooms.
Restaurant discovery app Zest has launched a personal AI concierge that works over text messages, according to TechCrunch. Users text a phone number to ask for places by cuisine, craving, occasion, dietary needs or neighborhood, and can ask about how busy a spot is, amenities such as Wi-Fi, or its menu. TechCrunch compares it to other text-based AI agents such as Instinct and Poke.
Zest builds its picks from your dining history: users link a credit card, and the app imports food and drink transactions through Plaid. The agent can join a group chat, blend everyone's tastes, run an in-thread vote and book a table through OpenTable, Resy or SevenRooms. TechCrunch says it tested the agent and found its suggestions fit the reviewer's tastes, time of day, party size and location fairly well.
Zest was founded in November 2024 and raised $1.8 million in pre-seed funding, TechCrunch reports. Founder Mario Gomez-Hall told the outlet the agent is now the product. TechCrunch's article does not state pricing or where the concierge is available, and says booking is a current revenue source with food ordering planned.
If you run a restaurant or any appointment-based business, more diners will ask an AI to find and book for them. Make sure your hours, menu and reservation listings on the booking platforms are current, since those are what agents like this read. Treat it as a trend to watch: Zest had thousands of users before this launch, not millions.
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