DoorDash Tests AI Text Ordering With 20,000 U.S. Consumers

DoorDash is testing an AI-powered ordering experience that lets U.S. consumers order food by sending a text, with the system searching nearby restaurants, building carts, remembering preferences, and handling checkout without requiring users to open the DoorDash app.
 

TL;DR

 

• DoorDash has introduced an AI-powered way to order food through text messages.
• Adweek reports the pilot is already live with 20,000 U.S. consumers through Apple Messages.
• Users can ask for specific dishes, recommendations or their usual orders, then confirm checkout within the conversation.
• U.S. users can join a waitlist to try the beta, while wider availability remains unconfirmed.

 

DoorDash wants ordering dinner to feel less like shopping through an app and more like messaging someone who already knows what you like.

The company announced the text-based ordering experience on September 30, building on Ask DoorDash, the in-app AI assistant it introduced earlier this year.

According to DoorDash, users can text what they are craving, request local restaurant recommendations or simply ask it to order their usual meal. The system searches nearby restaurants and menus, builds a suggested cart and can send food images from restaurant listings directly into the conversation.
 

Users can then confirm their order and complete checkout without opening the DoorDash app.

The AI also uses previous ordering behavior to personalize future requests. DoorDash said it can remember details such as preferred dishes, modifiers and extras, while the company eventually wants the system to proactively ask whether users want recurring orders such as a morning coffee.

“Managing tasks like ordering lunch or groceries shouldn't feel like work,” said DoorDash co-founder Andy Fang in the company’s announcement.

“We built a personal shopper that helps you discover and compare thousands of items while identifying ways for you to save on DoorDash,” Fang added.

The company said an average U.S. consumer can choose from more than 800,000 menu items and grocery products through DoorDash, based on a sample of 10,000 U.S. consumers measured in June 2026.

DoorDash also said users discovered more than 40,000 new restaurants through Ask DoorDash during the three months following its launch. Nearly half of restaurant orders made using Ask DoorDash went to local restaurants the customer had not previously tried, according to company data covering June through August 2026.

Adweek reported that the Apple Messages pilot is currently live with 20,000 U.S. consumers. It also reported that DoorDash has introduced DoorDash MCP, or Model Context Protocol, for corporate ordering, aimed at automating tasks such as office restaurant orders and supply restocking through workplace interfaces.

Meanwhile, The Verge noted that the broader text-ordering service remains a preview rather than a full public launch. U.S. users can currently apply through DoorDash’s waitlist to participate in the beta, while DoorDash has not provided a wider rollout schedule or confirmed Android availability.
 

DoorDash Is Also Using AI To Speed Up Grocery Orders

The text-ordering feature forms part of a broader push by DoorDash to reduce the amount of searching and manual cart-building involved in ordering.
 

DoorDash said more than 30% of grocery orders made through Ask DoorDash are routine restocks. Its new Restock feature can automatically rebuild a shopper’s usual cart, while customers can remove unwanted items or add additional products before checkout.

The company is also introducing suggested swaps that scan a selected grocery store for cheaper equivalent products and show potential savings before an order is completed.

According to DoorDash, grocery baskets created with Ask DoorDash are built five times faster than conventional baskets. The company also said those orders have nearly 50% higher basket values and approximately 60% more unique items compared with traditional orders made by the same consumers.

For now, though, ordering DoorDash entirely through a text conversation remains a beta experience. U.S. users can join the waitlist starting September 30, with DoorDash yet to announce when the feature will become broadly available.