Restaurant discovery
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Zest’s new AI agent finds restaurants and books reservations over text
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3 min read
Zest has launched an AI-powered restaurant concierge that works through text messages, recommending restaurants and booking tables through services including OpenTable, Resy and SevenRooms. Users can text the concierge at (212) 470-6067 with requests based on cuisine, cravings, occasion, dietary restrictions or neighborhood, ask for details such as expected crowding or Wi-Fi, and request menus. The concierge uses data from Zest’s restaurant-discovery app, which links to users’ credit cards through Plaid and analyzes food and drink transactions to infer dining preferences. Founder and CEO Mario Gomez-Hall said the system can also use friends’ histories. In group chats, Zest can combine participants’ tastes, run an in-thread vote to resolve choices, and book a reservation without requiring users to leave the conversation. Zest was founded in November 2024 and received $1.8 million in pre-seed funding from Alexis Ohanian’s 776 and Steve Jang’s Kindred Ventures. The company began testing the concierge in September 2026 and delayed its release until reservation booking was available. Gomez-Hall said bookings and future food ordering are intended as initial revenue sources, while Zest is considering expanding recommendations to businesses, shopping and other categories.