1. Install it
Open the .dmg you downloaded and drag Mise onto the Applications folder
next to it. Eject the disk image.
2. Open it the first time
macOS will say it cannot verify the developer. That is expected — Mise is free and is not signed with a paid Apple certificate.
Right-click Mise in Applications → Open → Open.
You only do this once. After that it opens normally.
Why: Apple charges $99/year for the certificate that removes this warning. Mise is free and self-hosted, so it does not pay it. The warning means "unsigned", not "unsafe" — the source is public and you can build it yourself.
3. Decide which computer runs the restaurant
One machine holds the menu, the orders and the takings. Everything else joins it. Pick the one that stays switched on during service — usually the back-office computer.
On that machine, choose Run the restaurant on this computer. Mise starts its
own server and shows you an address like http://192.168.0.209:8090.
Write that address down. Tablets and the kitchen screen need it.
macOS may ask whether Mise can accept incoming network connections. Say yes — that is how the tablets reach it.
4. Set up the restaurant
The first run walks through three steps: what the place is called, what it charges, and who owns it. Then you are signed in.
5. Add the other devices
On each tablet or kitchen screen, open Mise and type the address from step 3 — not "run on this computer". They join the machine that is hosting.
Everything must be on the same wi-fi.
Where your data lives
~/Library/Application Support/com.devshakib.mise/server/pb_data
On the host machine only. Nothing is sent anywhere. Updating Mise never touches it. Back it up by copying that folder while Mise is closed.
If something is wrong
The tablets cannot find it. Check they are on the same wi-fi, and that macOS is allowing incoming connections for Mise (System Settings → Network → Firewall).
"The server did not come up in time." Something else may be using port 8090. Quit it and reopen Mise.
You want to start over. Quit Mise and delete the folder above. The next launch behaves like a fresh install.