How is a bar owner rent seeking? They are providing a good and charging market prices for it. If bars in the city got together and introduced a bar-density limit within the city so as to limit the number of bars that can exist and thus allow them to raise prices, that would be rent seeking. If a bar hired a bunch of people to attend town hall meetings preventing new bars from opening up and allowing itself to raise prices - that would be rent-seeking.

If prices of drinks are going up naturally because people are making more money, "rent" for real estate is going up, etc. that is not "rent-seeking".