zenchef

Zenchef develops ZenchefOS, an all-in-one restaurant management software platform covering online reservations, table and seating-plan management, waitlists, prepayments to reduce no-shows, pay-at-table and payment processing, guest data and CRM, review and reputation management, email marketing, vouchers and click & collect. The platform is designed so restaurants retain ownership of their guest data and pay no commission on covers booked through their own channels. Bookings can be captured through a website widget, Google Reserve, Instagram/Meta Reserve, a 24/7 call-assist and AI concierge service that answers phone calls, and a consumer-facing Zenchef guest app through which diners find, book and follow restaurants.

The software is available in seven languages (English, French, Dutch, German, Spanish, Portuguese and Italian) and integrates with third-party restaurant systems including point-of-sale and cash register software such as Lightspeed and Trivec. Zenchef is described as a fully integrated SaaS platform spanning reservation management, CRM and mobile payments, serving independent restaurants, fine-dining venues and multi-site restaurant groups.

Zenchef operates as part of Hospitality Tech Group, formed with CoverManager; Zenchef's own footprint is centred on France, Benelux and the DACH region while CoverManager covers Iberia, Italy and Latin America.

Founding story

Zenchef was founded by Xavier Zeitoun, Thomas Zeitoun and Julien Balmont in Paris to streamline the operations restaurants use to attract and retain customers, giving them a single platform for front-of-house management while keeping ownership of their data. TechRound gives a founding year of 2011.

Business model

B2B subscription software sold to restaurants, complemented by payment processing fees. Three tiers are offered — Reserve for independent restaurants taking bookings online, Manage for busy venues needing table management, waitlist and reputation tools, and Grow for restaurant groups and fine-dining venues needing multi-venue management, guest marketing and lower payment fees — plus paid add-ons including a booking website, marketing suite, multi-venue dashboard, automatic SMS, AI concierge and Meta Reserve.

Recurring subscription plans priced per venue with zero commission charged on guest bookings, additional add-on modules, and fees on payments processed through the platform.

Traction

Company materials report more than 36,000 restaurants across 20+ countries, over 7.4 million reservations per month and 230+ employees; a review page cites 20,000+ restaurants. A 2026 job posting referenced by Caplight cites over 25,000 restaurants supported across Europe. In 2022, TechRound reported 7,000 restaurants in 15 countries, including 180 Michelin-starred venues, and nearly 50 million reservations facilitated since founding, corresponding to about 170 million diners as of 2021.

Latest developments

Three restaurant technology platforms — Formitable, Zenchef and Resengo — have been unified under the Zenchef name with a combined product and brand identity, and Zenchef has been combined with CoverManager under Hospitality Tech Group. The current product line includes an AI concierge for phone bookings, Meta/Instagram reservations and a growing consumer booking app.