Yeah. Aquilonia isn't a capitalist nation, and wouldn't really go for someone "buying" a business, per se. With land comes power, and the aristocrats are loathe just to let commoners (and foreigners!) buy and sell power within their territory. They give it out as a fief and expect to profit thereby.
Sometimes it is hard for modern players to use the real economy of the age because capitalism is all we really know for an economic system. A feudal economy has a difficult time with such transactions. Even the concept of free townsmen was difficult for the aristocrats to swallow - and in order for someone to be a "free" townsman they had to be a citizen, which means they have to agree to man the walls, pay fees to a guild, do what the guild masters say, etc. Still, not something a non-Tarantian native is likely to be allowed to join, so the only way to get the tavern is to get it from a nobleman as a fief - which means swearing an allegiance, promising to serve in his armies (or send money in lieu of actual service), etc.
Plus, the nobleman and all his retinue, his friends and their retinues, will all expect to eat for free.
Plus, if it was granted by a nobleman, then the tavern guilds in Tarantia are going to HATE the PCs, and do whatever they can to sabotage their business.
Still, if one of the PCs is a Tarantia native, they could join the guild, but then they have guild responsibilities, and have to pay money to make sure other tavern owners can afford medical care, or that tavern-owner widows have a line of income, etc. This means the aristocrats no longer will trust the PCs because they are free townsmen and are outside of the proper order of things, which could cause political problems if the PCs have already had dealings with Tarantian nobles.
