More than 11,000 wine industry professionals are pouring into downtown Sacramento this week for the annual Unified Wine & Grape Symposium, and they're showing up hungry and ready to pop wine bottles.

After attending the Western Hemisphere's largest wine trade show at the Sacramento Convention Center, attendees flock to nearby restaurants to eat and entertain clients.

For a local restaurant industry that's been rocked by the recession, feeding Unified guests translates into the busiest time of the year for many central city eateries. It's the perfect target audience for them: Wine industry professionals who like to eat and drink, and often with expense accounts to wine and dine clients.

"It literally doubles our business the week they're here," said Randy Paragary, whose Paragary Restaurant Group operates Esquire Grill, Spataro and other venues around Sacramento. "(Our) people who work four days a week now do five. Our town needs it, and our employees need it. It's extra money, and they appreciate it."

Downtown restaurant owners bank on Unified attendees like Robert and Senka Tennant, the co-owners of British Columbia's Terravista Vineyards. By Tuesday afternoon, the first day of the symposium, they'd already eaten locally at P.F. Chang's on 15th and J and grabbed a quick lunch at Upper Crust Pizza near the Convention Center at 12th and K streets.

The Tennants, who booked a room at the Sterling Hotel, planned on splurging for a Tuesday night dinner and drinks at downtown's Restaurant Thir13en.

"For dinner we'll usually spend about $100," said Robert Tennant. "We're in the alcohol industry, so we like to drink."

"It's nice to stay someplace where you can just walk everywhere," added Senka Tennant. "We didn't make any (dining) reservations. We're just going with the flow."

According to the Sacramento Convention and Visitors Bureau, more than 2,200 hotel rooms were booked for this year's Unified. The event, which runs through Thursday, generates more than $2.4 million for the local economy.

"That's a conservative estimate," said Mike Testa, senior vice president of sales and business development for the Sacramento Convention and Visitors Bureau. "It's the biggest meeting that comes to Sacramento, and every inch of the Convention Center is taken."

While the post-holiday season until Valentine's Day traditionally means slow times for the restaurant industry, Sacramento's central city restaurateurs enjoy a January boost. Along with Unified, the return of the Legislature and Dine Downtown Restaurant Week – in which local restaurants offer three-course menu deals over 10 days – makes January rank among the busiest months.

For the Selland Group, which operates The Kitchen and Ella Dining Room & Bar, Unified week brings a 35 percent increase in business, and a 25 to 35 percent spike in wine sales.

"January is the second-biggest month of the year for us, and December is first," said Josh Nelson of the Selland Group. "But what makes the symposium really special is that the people are food and wine lovers. They're picking apart the cellar and buying the interesting things. They're having the full dining experience, not just a cocktail and appetizer."

On some nights, a company will reserve an entire restaurant or large portions of the dining room. A complete "buyout" costs upward of $10,000 at Esquire Grill.

For those hoping to nab a table at one of the area's prominent restaurants this week, the best bet would be to try OpenTable.com. This online reservation system can quickly show which local restaurants have tables available, but the farther away you are from downtown, the better chances of getting a table during prime dinner hours.

All reservations are already booked today for lunch and dinner at Ella Dining Room & Bar, and reaching capacity for Thursday. The Kitchen, which features a chef's tasting menu for $125 per person, is even pre-booked for next year's Unified symposium and adding requests to a waiting list.

"People usually re-up that night (at The Kitchen) for the following year," said Randall Selland, executive chef and owner of the Selland Group. "We've been booked for these days for a long time. For Ella, we have three different groups buying the whole restaurant. It's a party of 100 here, a party of 50 there."

While Unified remains the largest convention to be hosted in Sacramento, downtown restaurants also get a regular boost from Community Center Theater events and smaller gatherings at the Sacramento Convention Center. But unlike other conventions, which often include a banquet, Unified attendees must dine on their own.

"It's an important piece of business to Sacramento, and we like having it here," said Testa. "From a convention standpoint, it's tough to compare to 11,000 people."

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