Yelp's new AI will call restaurants for you and text back the wait time

The Check for Me feature starts rolling out on iOS as part of Yelp's fall product release, which also brings OpenTable bookings to Yelp Assistant.

You're outside a restaurant, hungry, and the host stand is chaos. You could call. Or you could let Yelp's new AI agent do it. That's the pitch behind Check for Me, a feature Yelp began rolling out this week on iOS.

You would tap "Check wait time now" on an eligible restaurant's page, enter your party size and phone number, and Yelp's AI voice bot dials the restaurant, asks about the wait, and texts you the answer within minutes.

Credit: Yelp

It's only for walk-in restaurants in the U.S. at first, and Yelp hasn't named launch cities or an Android timeline, saying only that it's coming "in the coming months".

The feature is part of Yelp's 2026 Fall Product Release, which the company said includes more than 30 new features and updates.

Yelp Assistant, the company's AI chatbot, now integrates with OpenTable, giving users access to tens of thousands of restaurants across the U.S. for reservations without leaving the app. The assistant also picks up personalization from past chats and review history, can set recurring reminders through a feature called Keep Me Posted, and factors in real-time weather when recommending places to go.

"This release marks the next step in our journey to transform Yelp into an intelligent, more personalized experience that effortlessly adapts to each user's individual needs," said Akhil Kuduvalli Ramesh, Yelp's chief product officer.

The company hasn't detailed how Check for Me handles a restaurant that uses its own AI phone agent, a scenario TechCrunch flagged as a possible agent-to-agent breakdown.

Yelp also hasn't said whether the AI identifies itself as an AI on the call or how restaurants can opt out of these automated queries. And while the feature could cut down on routine wait-time calls for busy staff, Yelp hasn't shared how many restaurants are eligible or what happens when a restaurant doesn't pick up.

Yelp says Check for Me is rolling out "in the coming months" on eligible restaurant pages and in Yelp Assistant when walk-ins are possible.

Yelp has not said when Android users will get the feature or not.