Zagat
Zagat is a restaurant review and guide publisher founded in 1979, serving consumers seeking curated dining recommendations. It now operates as part of The Infatuation, a digital restaurant-discovery platform, under professional management with founder Tim Zagat remaining as co-chairman.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded1979
- HeadquartersNew York, United States
- Headcount101–250
- GTM typeB2C
- OfferingDigital Commerce or Content
What Zagat does
Zagat is a consumer-facing restaurant review and guide publisher founded in 1979 and headquartered in New York. Originally built on a survey methodology that aggregated diner ratings across food, décor, service, and cost, the brand has historically served consumers seeking curated restaurant recommendations in major U.S. markets. The company is described as "the leading resource for restaurant guides since 1979" and now operates as part of The Infatuation, indicating its editorial and distribution assets have been integrated into a broader digital restaurant-discovery platform.
The current operation is led by CEO Chris Stang (of The Infatuation) and Andrew Steinthal as CRO, with editorial direction under editor in chief Hillary Reinsberg. Founder Tim Zagat remains in a co-founder and co-chairman capacity. Leadership structure — spanning operations, revenue, and editorial — points to a content-and-partnerships monetization model rather than a pure subscription or transactional product, although specific pricing, GTM, and product details are not disclosed in the available data.
Historically, Zagat raised $31 million in February 2000 from General Atlantic (lead), Allen & Company, and Kleiner Perkins, funding the expansion of its survey-based guides and early digital initiatives. The company employs 101-250 people, and the firmographic record shows no disclosed revenue, customer logos, technology stack, or AI capabilities, leaving significant gaps in the operational and commercial profile.
Zagat firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Zagat
- Website
- https://zagat.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 1979
- Headcount range
- 101–250 employees
- Short description
- Zagat is a restaurant review and guide publisher founded in 1979, serving consumers seeking curated dining recommendations. It now operates as part of The Infatuation, a digital restaurant-discovery platform, under professional management with founder Tim Zagat remaining as co-chairman.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Zagat industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Restaurant Reviews & Ratings Guides
- SIC
- Retail-Eating & Drinking Places (5810)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Review-Led Travel Discovery & Booking Platforms (THAKAAAN)
Keywords
Where Zagat is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- New York
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Markets served
Zagat business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2C
- Offering type
- Digital Commerce or Content
- Cost components
- Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Operations
Zagat product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Zagat produces crowd-sourced restaurant reviews and ratings based on its signature Zagat Survey, in which diners score restaurants on food, decor, service, and cost. The resulting guides are published as online editorial content on zagat.com, as printed guidebooks, and through brand-licensed integrations with partners such as Chase.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Zagat Survey Restaurant Guides Printed and digital restaurant guides built on the Zagat Survey methodology, aggregating diner reviews into standardized ratings on food, decor, service, and cost for consumers seeking trusted dining recommendations.
- Zagat.com Online Restaurant Reviews Online editorial platform publishing Zagat's survey-based restaurant reviews, ratings, and recommendations for individual diners at zagat.com.
Companies that use Zagat
Customer profileIdeal customer profiles1 record
Zagat technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Zagat partnerships and signals
Strategic signalRecent moves3 records
Expansion highlights3 records
Zagat competitors and assessment
Company assessmentBroad incumbents
- Bon Appétit: Bon Appétit is a major food media brand (Condé Nast) covering recipes, restaurant reviews, and culinary culture, overlapping with Zagat on the editorial restaurant review use case for a broader food-loving audience.
Direct peers
- Foursquare: Foursquare is a location-based discovery platform with significant restaurant tips and rating data, competing in the same local-discovery use case as Zagat's reviews.
- OpenTable: OpenTable is a leading restaurant discovery and reservation platform that overlaps with Zagat on diner discovery while adding transactional booking functionality that Zagat lacks.
- Michelin Guide: Michelin Guide is the gold-standard curated restaurant rating authority globally, directly comparable to Zagat's authoritative editorial review model and premium positioning with diners and chefs.
- Yelp: Yelp is the dominant user-generated restaurant review platform in the US, directly competing with Zagat for diner attention and restaurant marketing budgets across discovery and ratings.
- TripAdvisor: TripAdvisor is a major global travel and dining review platform with comparable user-generated ratings and discovery functionality, competing directly with Zagat's dining guide positioning.
- The Infatuation: The Infatuation is the parent brand under which Zagat now operates, sharing overlapping editorial coverage, audience, and team with very similar restaurant review and discovery offerings.
- Eater: Eater is a digital-first restaurant news and review publication (part of Vox Media) targeting the same urban foodie demographic as Zagat, with overlapping editorial coverage of restaurants and dining culture.
- Resy: Resy is a restaurant reservation and discovery platform (owned by American Express) competing for the same premium urban diner audience that Zagat's curated reviews target.
Emerging players
- Tock: Tock is a reservation and ticketing platform for restaurants that overlaps with Zagat's curated dining audience and competes for restaurant partner relationships through a discovery-plus-booking model.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat3 records
Key risks5 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Zagat social profiles
Digital presenceZagat financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Zagat leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles5 records
Zagat funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds1 record
Investors3 records
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Zagat M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments1 record
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Zagat
What does Zagat do?
Zagat produces crowd-sourced restaurant reviews and ratings based on its signature Zagat Survey, in which diners score restaurants on food, decor, service, and cost. The resulting guides are published as online editorial content on zagat.com, as printed guidebooks, and through brand-licensed integrations with partners such as Chase.
When was Zagat founded?
Zagat was founded in 1979. It employs 101 to 250 people.
Where is Zagat based?
Zagat is headquartered in New York, United States, in the North America region.
Who are Zagat's main competitors?
Bon Appétit is listed as a broad incumbent. Direct peers are Foursquare, OpenTable, Michelin Guide, Yelp, TripAdvisor, The Infatuation, Eater and Resy. Tock is listed as an emerging player.
Does Zagat have an API?
No public API is recorded for Zagat.
What industry is Zagat in?
Zagat's product category is Restaurant Reviews & Ratings Guides. Its primary akta.pro industry code is THAKAAAN, Review-Led Travel Discovery & Booking Platforms. Its SIC code is 5810.