Zest uses users’ credit-card transaction data for food and drink to personalize suggestions. The company says it limits its use to those categories; TechCrunch’s test found that suggestions matched several stated constraints.

The service began testing last month. Zest hopes to earn revenue from bookings and, later, food orders, but its ability to scale or improve recommendations has not been established.

Why it matters

The service illustrates an effort to connect AI recommendations directly to booking, reducing the need to switch to a separate app.

GUIDES

Something to try

As a hypothetical exercise, list which spending data a restaurant concierge would access and what you would want to verify before allowing it to book.