By Brian Shane
Staff Writer
(April 9, 2026) Ocean City restaurateur Peter Elias and his partners in a 17th Street renovation project are facing a $3.5 million court-ordered judgment after defaulting on a commercial loan.
The Bank of Ocean City is suing The Bistro and Lounge LLC as the borrower and Elias as its managing member. He is being sued both individually and under the LLC, which owns the Cowboy Coast restaurant at 1706-1708 Philadelphia Ave.
Court documents show the bank in November 2024 approved a $4.5 million loan at 7.25% interest, with the restaurant property itself listed as collateral. A schedule included in the court filing indicated the loan had monthly interest-only payments of $23,000.
Filed Feb. 11, the lawsuit alleges as of Jan. 26, there was still $3.49 million owed on the note, including $3.4 million in unpaid principal and $98,138 in unpaid interest.
As a result, the bank served a default notice and called back the loan. On March 8, Worcester County Circuit Court Judge Brian Shockley issued a judgment in the bank’s favor for $3.49 million.
That notice was recorded as a confessed judgment, a legal term meaning the business admits to defaulting and may waive its right to a trial.
For collections, the bank hired the Baltimore law firm of Gebhardt & Smith LLP. In the lawsuit, the borrowers allegedly “continued to refuse” to make payments under the terms of the deal, wrote plaintiff’s attorney Richard DuBose III.
When reached by phone this week, Elias said, “We’re working through that process right now,” but declined to comment further. Bank of Ocean City President Reid Tingle also had no comment.
The bank’s lawsuit names four others as defendants and holds them equally responsible for the default: Karamjeet Singh, Basel Ramadan, and his wife, Shereen Ramadan. Singh’s company Seven Star Hospitality of OC LLC is also named as a defendant.
Singh, Elias, and Basel Ramadan contracted to purchase the property in a lease-to-own deal and Seven Star Hospitality would be the lessee and the liquor license holder, public records show.
Elias and partners acquired the property – formerly the Paddock nightclub, a resort landmark dating to the 1950s – from Rosenblit Family LLC for $4.5 million, property records show. The site by 2014 had re-launched as Cowboy Coast, a country music-themed restaurant with live music and a mechanical bull.
Elias is the proprietor of several upscale area restaurants, including Spain Wine Bar and Oyster & Scales in downtown Ocean City. In taking over Cowboy Coast, he had planned to reimagine the space as Bistro Coterie, a 750-seat, French-inspired fine dining establishment.
Plans for the bistro renovation had been shared with the Worcester County Board of License Commissioners dating to December 2023. Elias explained to the board, records show, that the 12,000-square-foot space would feature indoor and outdoor areas, a wine room, a seafood station, and an aging room for steaks.
But municipal zoning hurdles and parking issues have slowed progress by months ahead of a planned summertime opening, and floor plans were amended to shrink the renovation footprint in the interim, liquor board meeting minutes show.
While the liquor board had approved the establishment’s Class B license for beer, wine, and liquor, the partnership for now has opted to withdraw its liquor license application. Elias’ attorney Hugh Cropper confirmed he’ll come back to re-apply at a later date.