Zest launches AI concierge for restaurant reservations via text

Zest, a restaurant discovery app launched earlier this year, has introduced an AI-powered concierge that operates via text messages, enabling users to book reservations directly. The feature, similar to AI agents like Instinct or Poke, allows users to receive restaurant recommendations and make bookings through services like OpenTable and Resy. Zest founder and CEO Mario Gomez-Hall emphasized that the AI agent learns from users’ actual dining history rather than requiring extensive conversation. The app, founded in November 2024 with $1.8 million in pre-seed funding, uses credit card data from Plaid to personalize recommendations. Zest’s new approach aims to streamline the restaurant search process by integrating it into text conversations, allowing for group recommendations and in-thread voting. The company began testing the concierge last month and is now rolling out full booking capabilities, with plans to expand beyond restaurants in the future. Zest’s AI agent can suggest restaurants based on factors like cuisine, occasion, and dietary restrictions, and even check availability and send menus. The startup hopes to scale beyond its initial user base by leveraging booking and ordering as revenue streams. Gomez-Hall noted that Zest’s ability to learn from actual dining behavior gives it an edge over general assistants. The app’s integration with financial data and conversational AI represents a shift in how startups are deploying AI to enhance user experience.