Zest Launches AI Restaurant Concierge That Takes Reservations Over Text
Zest’s concierge uses Plaid-linked dining history to personalize recommendations and text bookings through OpenTable, Resy, and SevenRooms. Added to group chats, it combines tastes, runs in-thread polls, and books for the party; the startup has raised $1.8 million.
Restaurant discovery app Zest introduced an AI-powered concierge in October 2026 that operates through text messages, allowing users to get personalized restaurant recommendations and book tables without opening a separate app.
Users can reach the concierge by texting (212) 470-6067. The service draws on a user’s existing dining history — pulled from linked credit card transactions via Plaid — to generate tailored suggestions based on factors like cuisine, occasion, dietary restrictions, or neighborhood. It can also answer questions about specific restaurants, such as how busy they tend to be or whether they offer Wi-Fi, and can send menus on request. Reservations are made through connected platforms including OpenTable, Resy, and SevenRooms.
A notable feature is group chat support. Zest can be added to a group text thread, where it blends multiple users’ taste profiles to suggest restaurants the whole party may enjoy. An in-thread voting feature helps resolve disagreements, and the concierge can then book a table for the group without anyone leaving the conversation.
“The agent is the product now,” said 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.”
Zest was founded in November 2024 and has raised $1.8 million in pre-seed funding from Alexis Ohanian at 776 and Steve Jang at Kindred Ventures. The company began testing the concierge the month prior to launch but waited to release it publicly until booking capabilities were in place.
On revenue, Gomez-Hall pointed to bookings and food ordering as the first monetization paths. The company is also considering expanding the concierge beyond restaurants to cover businesses and shopping recommendations.