I'm 33 male and legally blind. I use a Guide Dog for mobility. I've never been able to read menus at Fish and Chip Shops, McDonalds, Canteens, Cafes.

My best recommendations are similar to others - if you know you are going somewhere in advance find a menu online. If it doesn't have pricing, call in advance and explain your son is vision impaired/legally blind and do they have a menu with pricing you can look at to assist him with his ordering. Especially if this is a place he is likely to frequent often.

If this isn't possible or he goes out on the spur of the moment, my only recommendation is to explain you are vision impaired/legally blind (Fully sighted people get confused if you tell them you are blind but can obviously still see SOMETHING, they associate blindness with total darkness, and the words vision impaired with low vision.)

Ask them what kind of food they serve, what hot food you have today etc. I sometimes ask the person what they like the best out of the food they make. Just be polite, clear spoken and friendly. As soon as 90% of hospitality workers/cashiers realise you have a disability you tend to get there most friendly and helpful customer service.

I used to try use a monocular when I was little, but I often found that it was impractical and often poor lighting conditions made it pretty useless anyway.

Being at a party/barbecue social gathering where finger food and it is 'help yourself' at a main table can also be quite difficult. Nothing worse than staring at a big table full of blurry colours knowing it all smells great but having no idea what's what. Again, your son is going to have to build his confidence and lean on a friend or relative and ask them to quietly describe what is available and help serve him.

At sit down restaurants I have found my camera on my mobile phone works pretty well as a CCTV to read a menu. If the lighting is just too poor, I have the person I'm with read me the titles of main sections, ask them to say read me the chicken section and just read out titles till i ask for one with more detail. This way you can quickly narrow it down to a few things rather than having someone read out the entire thing verbatim which could be embarrassing for him in a group setting.

As his mum/mom my greatness recommendation is to get him to figure out or use tricks to help himself, or have others help him quietly. It is really easy to get used to someone helping you out all the time, and to milk it or take advantage of the fact you cannot see well. As my mum used to say to me when I was little, if you can see well enough to play with the Legos, then you can feel around with your hands to tidy it all away too.

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What others have said about online menus is good. I try to do that especially if I'm going out with friends and don't want to hold everyone up. I also always carry my video magnifier on me so if they do offer a print menu on request I usually will ask for that if I couldn't access an online menu. My other solution is carrying a 4x and a 6x monocular so I can zoom in on posted menus. This isn't ideal because if the place is dark then I'm out of luck either way. I also feel kind of weird using a monocular in public, I always thought it drew a lot of attention. Although I use a cane so it's not like it wasn't already obvious that I'm visually impaired... I just don't like using the monocular but I will if I have to.

Mixing all of this I'm able to go to coffee shops/ restaurants pretty easily.

If he looks at menus online or through apps such as AllMenus, he could maybe go in with an idea of what to eat and ask the cashier for the price.
There are also handheld video magnifiers for distance viewing, (but they're kinda pricey. Maybe the DOE could help out with that or a place like an assistive technology resource center in your area)
There are also /iPhone/Android apps that scan text. The KNFB Reader is on both platforms and you take a picture of printed text and the app converts it to speech. There are similar apps for both platforms that don't cost as much--I believe the price for KNFBReader is about $99.
What kinds of technology does your son use? Phone/computer/large print?
If you'd like to PM/email, I'd be more than happy to try and help.

I have a lot of friends who use their smart phones to zoom into the menus.

There's a new generation of apps which can read outdoor text to you. If there aren't any available yet, be patient because there will be soon.

My partner is like this. The only way he can read a regular menu is to shove it within 2" of his face - and only then when it's high contrast. When we go out together I simply read him the menu if it's cafeteria style service. Most servers are more than happy to take a minute and read the choice is up to you if you express a need. Another trick is looking restaurant up before you go out and see if they have a menu online.

Unfortunately the best thing I would suggest is for him to decide what he wants off the online menu (even if pricing isn't available) and then ask the cashier how much they are, if he has to. That way he's not asking them to endlessly list items.

My boyfriend uses Yelp, they have most restaurant menus available on there with prices.

have you seen orcam.com?

Hi, I'm the VP at eSight - we've developed digital eyewear that helps people with low vision see as closely to full vision as possible. Your son could be a really great candidate for eSight, and it would definitely be a solution for things like reading menus and chalkboards at school. If you're interested send me a message. You can check out the website $1.

Sites like allmenus will aggregate restaurant menus in easy to read html, or failing that, Google the restaurants website. That's whet I do.