Zest是今年早些时候发布的餐厅发现应用软件，它已经在思考移动应用不再是主要接口的未来。 在星期四，启动的推出有一个新功能：个人AI动力的"resourant concierge"，住在您的短信中，类似于Instinct或Poke等其他流行的AI agents.
发布反映了创业者如何思考AI的更广泛的转变，因为对话的AI agents承担了先前要求用户对发布独立移动应用程序的任务。 对Zest来说，这意味着将餐厅的建议带入文本，然后允许用户立即采取下一步预订一张桌子。
“agent是现在的产品”, " 你发短信，从你自己的历史和朋友那里回答。 称表示：
最初于2024年11月成立，由Alexis Ohanian at 776 和 Steve Jang at Kindred Ventures提供180万美元的种子前支持，该应用的独特之处在于它与用户的信用卡连接起来，以追踪他们实际进食的地方，以了解他们的口味和兴趣。 有了这些数据，Zest可以提出一些有针对性的建议，说明你接下来想尝试哪些地方，无论是在自己的城市，还是在旅行时想尝试的地方。
Zest的应用软件使用的信用卡数据是通过金融服务公司Plaid导入的，银行和其他fintech及预算编制应用软件都使用该软件。 Zest 称在制作个性化地图和清单时，只注重食品和饮料类别的交易。
创业者的最新想法是从新的角度解决同样的问题——我应该在哪里吃饭？它现在将从一条短信线条中提出建议，并可以求助于AI来做诸如检查可用性之类的事情，并通过OpenTable,Resy，和StevenRooms等连接服务为您预定。
要工作，用户将发短信给Zest大厅(212)470-6067。 Zest能融入团体聊天，在这里，它也可以用一个线内投票功能来决定决定，然后可以在不离开对话的情况下为小组预订一张桌子。
用户可以根据一些因素向Zest询问推荐，如烹饪，渴望，场合，饮食限制，或邻里，还可以询问餐厅的情况，比如餐厅可能有多繁忙，或者是否提供Wi-Fi，等等。 此外，你可以要求Zest给你寄菜单来帮助你做出决定。
在TechCrunch的测试中，AI效果相当不错，提供了一份符合我们口味的新地点的建议清单，这些新地点也符合特定条件，如白天、聚会规模、地点和其他因素。 虽然寻找一个开放的桌子是其他应用程序多年来提供的东西，但有一个方便因素，那就是能够不停地发短信介绍各种选项，并告诉你可用的预订时间。
公司上月开始测试看门人，但决定持有发布，直到可以增加订票能力；随着时间的推移，创业者正在考虑将Zest移到餐厅以外，为企业，购物等提供建议。
通过转向文本，Zest希望公司能够超越最初的数千个用户，产生收入。
“购货和订购是第一批收入项目。 “称 Gomez-Hall。 Zest的品味比一般助理的品味要快，他补充说
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Zest, the restaurant discovery app that launched earlier this year, is already thinking about a future where mobile apps are no longer the primary interface. On Thursday, the startup introduced a new feature: a personal AI-powered “restaurant concierge” that lives in your text messages, similar to other popular AI agents like Instinct or Poke.
The launch reflects a broader shift in how startups are thinking about AI, as conversational AI agents take on tasks that had previously required users to launch standalone mobile apps. For Zest, that means bringing its restaurant recommendations into texts, then allowing 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’s unique feature is that it links up with users’ credit cards to track where they’re actually eating out to get a sense of their tastes and interests. With this data on hand, Zest can make tailored suggestions of what places you might like to try next, whether that’s in your own city or suggestions of places to try when you’re traveling.
The credit card data used by Zest’s app is imported via the financial services company Plaid, which is used by banks and other fintech and budgeting apps. Zest says it focuses only on those transactions in the food and drink categories when making its personalized map and lists.
The startup’s latest idea is to tackle the same problem — where should I go to eat? — from a new angle. It will now make its suggestions from inside a text message thread and can turn to AI to do things like check availability and make the reservation for you through connected services like OpenTable, Resy, and SevenRooms.
To work, users will text the Zest concierge at (212) 470-6067. What’s even better is that Zest can be dropped into a group chat, where it can blend everyone’s tastes to find places the whole group will love. Here, it can also settle indecision with an in-thread voting feature and then can book a table for the group without leaving the conversation.
Users can ask Zest for recommendations based on a number of factors, like cuisine, craving, occasion, dietary restrictions, or neighborhood, and can ask questions about the restaurants, like how busy the place may be, or whether it offers Wi-Fi, and more. Plus, you can ask Zest to send you the menu to help you make a decision.
In TechCrunch’s tests, the AI worked fairly well, offering a list of suggestions for new places matched to our tastes that also fit particular conditions, like time of day, party size, location, and other factors. While finding an open table is something other apps have offered for years, there’s a convenience factor in being able to just text back and forth about the various options and have it tell you the available booking times.
The company began testing the concierge last month, but decided to hold the launch until it could add the booking capabilities; over time, the startup is considering moving Zest beyond restaurants to offer recommendations for businesses, shopping, and more.
By shifting to texts, Zest hopes the company can scale beyond its initial thousands of users and generate 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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