Your AI Connector Docs

Zenchef

Who is this for? This integration is for restaurants that use Zenchef to manage their reservations and guest relationships. If you don’t use Zenchef, you can skip this page.

Use a different reservation system? Anything with an API can still be connected: see Connecting a Tool We Do Not List, which covers custom functions, the API and webhooks.

Zenchef is a restaurant management platform that combines reservations, customer relationships, and marketing tools for hospitality businesses. Connecting Zenchef to Your AI Connector lets your restaurant automate customer messaging around bookings and guest engagement — all through the channels your guests already use, like WhatsApp, SMS, and Instagram.

What Zenchef Does

Zenchef provides restaurants with:

  • Online reservation and table management
  • A digital menu and ordering system
  • Guest database and communication tools
  • Review management and marketing campaigns
  • Website and booking widget

By connecting Zenchef to Your AI Connector, you bring AI-powered messaging into your restaurant operations — handling reservation requests, sending confirmations, and re-engaging past diners automatically.

Connecting Zenchef

Before you start: the restaurant has to enable the Your AI Connector integration inside its own Zenchef account first (the integrations / partners section of the Zenchef back-office, or ask Zenchef support to switch it on). Until that is done, Zenchef refuses to give Your AI Connector access to the restaurant, and the Restaurant ID step below stops with a “Zenchef hasn’t given this platform access to that restaurant yet” message.

  1. In the left sidebar, click Settings (gear icon).
  2. In the Settings sidebar, under the Integrations group, click Booking & Calendar.
  3. Find the Zenchef card and click Connect.
  1. Enter your Restaurant ID and click Continue. You’ll find the ID in your Zenchef dashboard URL, or you can ask Zenchef support for it.
  1. Type your restaurant’s name exactly as it appears in Zenchef, then click Add restaurant.

You can add several restaurants this way — click Add restaurant on the connected Zenchef row for each one.

Restaurant Verification

Your AI Connector verifies that you have admin access to the Zenchef restaurant account before completing a connection, so only authorized team members can link the systems. That’s what the name step is for: we never show you the restaurant’s name, you have to already know it. You get 3 tries every 5 minutes; capitalization and spacing don’t matter, but the words themselves need to match.

Pausing or Removing a Restaurant

Each connected restaurant has its own Pause and Remove buttons on the Booking & Calendar page. Pausing stops the AI taking reservations for that restaurant while leaving it set up; removing deletes it entirely, though you can add it back any time with the same ID.

The Zenchef connection covers reservations; it does not read your Zenchef menu. To let the AI answer menu questions:

  • Add the menu to the knowledge base: put your dishes, prices, allergen notes and daily specials in your AI Agent’s FAQs or knowledge sources, and the bot answers “What vegetarian options do you have?” from there — see Managing FAQs.
  • Send the menu as a file: upload the menu PDF or image to the media library with a “when to send” note, and the bot sends it when a guest asks for the menu or price list.

Tip: update the knowledge base whenever the menu changes, so the bot never quotes an old price.

Booking Management

Once connected, Your AI Connector works with Zenchef reservation data to:

  • Handle availability inquiries: when a customer messages you asking for a table, the AI bot can check Zenchef for availability and respond with open time slots.
  • Confirm reservations: automatically send a booking confirmation message when a reservation is created in Zenchef.
  • Send reminders: reduce no-shows by sending automated reminders before the reservation.
  • Process changes: let customers modify or cancel reservations through a messaging conversation, with updates syncing back to Zenchef.

Telling your AI Agent to book with Zenchef

Once Zenchef is connected, point your AI Agent at it:

  1. Click AI Agents in the sidebar and open the Agent.
  2. Go to the AI Abilities step and find the Bookings card.
  3. Turn on Let this agent book appointments.
  4. Click the provider picker and choose Zenchef (the provider choices appear right under the switch).

Automated Customer Engagement

Beyond reservations and menus, the integration supports:

  • Welcome messages: automatically greet new customers who reach out via any messaging channel.
  • Post-visit follow-ups: message guests after their visit to thank them and invite them back.
  • Seasonal campaigns: use Your AI Connector's Broadcasts or Campaigns to promote holiday menus, wine dinners, or special events to your Zenchef guest database.
  • Review requests: automatically ask satisfied guests to leave a review after their visit.
  • Loyalty outreach: identify repeat guests and send them personalized offers or early access to special events.

Tips for Restaurants

  • Put your full menu in the knowledge base. The more menu detail the bot has, the better it answers guest questions.
  • Add operational FAQs to your AI Agent’s knowledge base: hours, parking, private dining options, allergen policies, and dress code — see Managing FAQs.
  • Use tags to segment your guest list — for example, “wine-lover,” “birthday-celebration,” “large-party” — and send targeted broadcasts or campaigns to each segment.
  • Enable the booking system on your AI Agent so it can handle the full reservation flow without human intervention.

Next Steps