Emmanuel "Mike" John Tatakis

Dec. 27, 1936- May 25, 2024

Emmanuel "Mike or Manoli" John Tatakis was born in Lavrion, Greece on Dec. 27, 1936 to Ioannis and Maria Tatakis. He passed peacefully in Dallas, Tx on May 25, 2024, in the presence of his loving daughter, Joanna.

Emmanuel was proceeded in death by his wife, Maryann.  His parents Ioannis and Maria Tatakis.  His brothers Leonidas and George and sister Calliope. He is survived by his daughter Joanna Tatakis and many nieces and nephews in Greece and in the United States.

Mike traveled to many places around the world while working as a Greek merchant marine.  Some of his favorite countries he traveled to were to Cuba, Japan, and the Philippines--where he met and befriended a band and would perform with them every time they would port. Mike then came to the United States in 1970.  His daughter, Joanna Tatakis, says he arrived in Chicago where he went into a diner. He had $6 in his pocket and didn't speak English well, she says, but the cook came out and asked if he was Greek. The cook offered him a job on the spot as well as a place to stay.

He got his start in the hospitality business and eventually worked in the states of Georgia, Florida, and Washington and finally, New Orleans. It was here where he was working as a drummer and singer in a Greek club(Scorpios) that he first spied Maryann Cariotis, who was visiting New Orleans from Dallas. As the legend goes, Joanna says, "he was so love struck that he dropped his microphone and Maryann smiled at him." It turned out that Maryann's mother knew the club's owner who then invited Mike to meet Maryann. After dating back and forth, they married and moved to Duncanville, Tx. Their daughter, Joanna, was born in 1984.

Initially the family was in the sports novelty business, but Mike and Maryann both enjoyed cooking and opened their first restaurant, Greek Cafe, on Cedar Ridge Road in Duncanville in 2005. Joanna says her dad was a natural with cooking and with the customers. His specialty, she says, was baked Greek chicken and Greek string beans (fasolakia).

Joanna joined the business in her early 20s, first as a waitress and then in the kitchen. "I'm not as good cook as my dad," she says today, "but everything he taught me how to make, I do well. He was tough. He used to say, 'if you're not going to it right, don't do it - no short cuts.'"

"My dad gave me a skill set I never knew I wanted," says the daughter, who ultimately ran the family's second restaurant, Greek Cafe & Bakery, in Bishop Arts from its opening in 2009 until 2023.

Anyone who's been in the restaurant business knows it's not all about cooking. Cultivating your customers is an important part of the job and Mike understood that. "My dad was a natural born storyteller," says Joanna. "He would tell you his life story or share his opinions with anyone. He had such a cadence when he told a story."

She recalls going to see the movie "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" with her cousin, Ann-Marie Cariotis when it first came out. Like many second-generation Greek-Americans, she could relate to the Greek father, Gus. "Do you think they had a camera on in my house?!" Joanna remembers asking her cousin. Like Gus, she says, "Dad was one of the most creative — and stubborn people —I've ever met."

Joanna says they worked well together, even if they butted heads. "My dad loved the restaurant.  He worked circles around everyone. He worked 24-7. Sometimes [especially after Maryann passed ]- I would make him leave and go to the horse races with his friends and drink coffee. Just a few weeks ago, he was coming up with ideas on how to reopen our restaurant."

One of her favorite stories was when her father was a young man and was stopped by a policeman in his hometown because he was walking around the village at night, singing with his guitar. The policeman asked what he was doing and then told Mike to come with him. The policeman brought him to a home and asked Mike to serenade the policeman's girlfriend. Mike obliged, happy that he was not in trouble.

"My dad loved living," says Joanna, who says the last week of his life was spent in and out of consciousness. "If he could have lived a million years, he would have." She says that in his last days, his priest, Fr. Mark Pakes of Holy Trinity, came to give him Holy Unction and Communion. "My dad regained consciousness, said 'Christ is Risen' and then 'Good-bye'…It was beautiful."


Donations may be made in honor of Emmanuel "Mike" Tatakis to the Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church Benevolent Fund. [https://holytrinitydallas.org/giving/community-outreach]

Services will be Monday June 3, 2024, at Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church, 13555 Hillcrest Rd, Dallas, TX 75240.

Visitation starts at 10:00 a.m with a funeral at 11:00 a.m..

Burial to follow at Restland Cemetery.