Her mother was a street peddler who sold food sauces and fruits, and who later managed a small neighborhood eatery popularly known in the Philippines as carinderias.

She developed her cooking skills at a young age, having to prepare the meals for her five younger siblings while her parents were out working for a living.

[1] In 1912, she married a young lawyer from her hometown, Alexander Reyes, who in 1948 would be appointed as an Associate Justice of the Philippine Supreme Court.

[2] She named her eatery Lapu-Lapu (after the Mactan chieftain who defeated Ferdinand Magellan in battle), adopted a native motif as interior decor, and served primarily Filipino fare.

By 1936, Cruz-Reyes operated a rolling store — a mobile restaurant featuring a menu stacked with traditional Filipino dishes — which she named "The Aristocrat".

[3] The restaurant was immediately successful, its original menu featuring adobo, a chicken sandwich, dinuguan and arroz caldo.