Zest, the restaurant discovery app that launched earlier this year, has introduced a personal AI-powered restaurant concierge that lives in text messages, similar to other popular AI agents like Instinct or Poke. The feature reflects a broader shift in which conversational AI agents take over tasks that previously required opening a standalone mobile app. In Zest‘s case, the concierge brings personalized restaurant recommendations into a text thread and can then check availability and book a table.

The concierge is built on Zest‘s existing differentiator: the app connects to users’ credit cards through Plaid and tracks where they actually eat out, using only food and drink transactions to build a personalized map and lists. Founder and CEO Mario Gomez-Hall said the agent starts from where users have actually been, so it doesn’t need weeks of conversation to learn their taste. “The agent is the product now,” he said.

To use it, people text the Zest concierge at (212) 470-6067. It can also be added to a group chat, where it blends everyone’s tastes to find places the whole group will like, runs an in-thread voting feature to settle indecision, and books a table without leaving the conversation. Individual requests can be filtered by cuisine, craving, occasion, dietary restrictions, or neighborhood, and users can ask questions such as how busy a restaurant is or whether it offers Wi-Fi, or ask Zest to send the menu. Reservations are handled through connected services including OpenTable, Resy, and SevenRooms.

TechCrunch tested the agent and reported that it worked fairly well, offering suggestions for new places matched to its tastes and fitting conditions like time of day, party size, and location. The company began testing the concierge last month but held the launch until booking capabilities were integrated. The startup was founded in November 2024 with $1.8 million in pre-seed backing from Alexis Ohanian at 776 and Steve Jang at Kindred Ventures, and currently has thousands of users.

Gomez-Hall said booking and ordering are the first revenue lines: Zest books tables through OpenTable or Resy today, with food ordering coming, and there are transactions to participate in. He argued that Zest learns taste faster than a general assistant because it starts from where someone has actually been instead of asking questions, “worth something well beyond dinner.” Over time, the company is considering expanding beyond restaurants to recommendations for businesses, shopping, and more.