Zest, the restaurant discovery app launched earlier this year, is pioneering a future where mobile applications are no longer the primary interface. On Thursday, the startup unveiled a new feature: a personalized, AI-powered "restaurant concierge" designed for use within text messages, similar to other popular AI agents like Instinct or Poke.
This launch reflects a broader shift in startup strategies, as conversational AI agents take on tasks that had previously required users to launch standalone mobile apps. For Zest, this integration means bringing restaurant recommendations directly into chats and enabling users to immediately take the next step of booking a table.
"The agent is the product now," explains Zest founder and CEO Mario Gomez-Hall. "You text it, and it answers from your own history and your friends'. It doesn’t need weeks of conversation to learn you because it starts from where you’ve actually been," he said.
Originally founded in November 2024 with $1.8 million in pre-seed backing from Alexis Ohanian at 776 and Steve Jang at Kindred Ventures, the app distinguishes itself by linking to users' credit cards via Plaid to track dining habits and tastes. With this data, Zest can provide tailored suggestions for dining options in the user's city or during travel.
Zest uses Plaid to import credit card data, focusing specifically on food and beverage transactions to generate personalized maps and lists. The startup now approaches the problem of "where should I go to eat?" from a conversational angle. Its AI agent checks availability and handles reservations through connected services such as OpenTable, Resy, and SevenRooms.
To utilize this service, users can text the Zest concierge at (212) 470-6067. A notable advantage is the ability to integrate the agent into group chats, where it synthesizes group preferences to suggest suitable venues. It also features an in-thread voting mechanism to resolve group indecision before automatically booking a table.
Users can request recommendations based on criteria like cuisine, craving, occasion, dietary restrictions, or neighborhood, and query specific details such as how busy a place might be or whether it offers Wi-Fi. Additionally, the agent can provide menu previews to assist in decision-making.
In TechCrunch’s tests, the AI functioned effectively, offering a list of suggestions for new places matched to user tastes while adhering to constraints like time of day and location. While finding an open table is a feature other apps have offered for years, the convenience factor lies in being able to simply text back and forth about various options and have the agent provide available booking times.
The company began testing the concierge last month but decided to delay the official launch until booking capabilities were fully integrated; over time, the startup is considering expanding Zest beyond restaurants to offer recommendations for businesses, shopping, and more.
By transitioning to a text-based model, Zest aims to scale beyond its initial thousands of users and secure revenue. "Booking and ordering are the first revenue lines. Zest books your table through OpenTable or Resy today, with food ordering coming, and there are transactions there to participate in," said Gomez-Hall. "The reason that gets interesting is that Zest learns your taste faster than a general assistant does, because it starts from where you’ve actually been instead of asking you questions. That’s worth something well beyond dinner," he added.
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