Sabato ci vediamo al bar alle otto.

In Italian, days of the week are usually used without an article when you mean this coming day or a specific day:

• Sabato ci vediamo = We’re seeing each other on Saturday
• Lunedì parto = I’m leaving on Monday

If you add the article, it often means something habitual or repeated:

• Il sabato lavoro = I work on Saturdays / every Saturday

So here sabato means one specific Saturday, not Saturdays in general.

Yes, in normal Italian spelling, days of the week are usually lowercase:

• sabato
• domenica
• lunedì

In this sentence, Sabato is capitalized only because it is at the beginning of the sentence. If it appeared in the middle, it would normally be lowercase:

• Ci vediamo sabato.

Here ci means each other / one another as part of the verb vedersi.

So:

• vedere = to see
• vedersi = to see each other / to meet

Therefore:

• ci vediamo literally = we see ourselves / we see each other
• natural English meaning = we’ll see each other or we’re meeting

This ci is not the same as the ci that can mean there in other contexts.

Yes, it comes from the pronominal/reflexive form vedersi.

A quick comparison:

• Vediamo il film = We see the film
• Ci vediamo = We see each other / We meet

In everyday Italian, ci vediamo is a very common way to talk about meeting someone, either literally seeing each other or having arranged to meet.

Italian very often uses the present tense to talk about the future, especially when the time is already clear from the context.

Here the future time is made clear by:

• Sabato = Saturday
• alle otto = at eight

So ci vediamo naturally means we’re meeting / we’ll see each other.

Italian does have a future tense:

• ci vedremo

But in everyday conversation, the present is often more common for planned future events.

Al is a contraction of:

• a
  • il = al

So:

• al bar = at the bar

This is very common in Italian. Some other examples:

• al ristorante = at/to the restaurant
• al cinema = at/to the cinema

Even though English often says just at the bar, Italian normally uses the article here: il bar.

Alle is the contraction of:

• a
  • le = alle

It is used before clock times:

• alle otto = at eight
• alle sei = at six
• alle nove e mezza = at half past nine

A special case:

• all’una = at one

because una is singular.

So alle otto is simply the normal way to say at eight o’clock.

Because Italian often uses the preposition a for both:

• place/time where something happens
• clock times

In this sentence:

• al bar = at the bar
• alle otto = at eight

So English uses at in both places, and Italian uses a plus the article where needed.

Yes, absolutely. Italian word order is fairly flexible.

All of these are natural, depending on emphasis:

• Sabato ci vediamo al bar alle otto.
• Ci vediamo sabato al bar alle otto.
• Ci vediamo al bar sabato alle otto.

Starting with Sabato puts the day first, which can sound like setting the scene or emphasizing when.

They are close, but not always identical.

• ci vediamo = we see each other / we meet
• ci incontriamo = we meet

Ci vediamo is extremely common and often sounds very natural in everyday speech for an arranged meeting.
Ci incontriamo is also correct, but can sometimes sound a little more formal or more focused on the act of meeting.

In this sentence, ci vediamo is probably the most idiomatic everyday choice.

Italian bar does not always match English bar exactly.

In Italy, a bar is often more like a:

• café
• coffee bar
• snack bar

It can serve coffee, pastries, sandwiches, aperitifs, and sometimes alcohol. So al bar might not mean a drinking bar in the English sense. The exact meaning depends on context.

Alle otto is perfectly normal if the time is already clear from context.

If needed, Italian can be more specific:

• alle otto di mattina = at eight in the morning
• alle otto di sera = at eight in the evening

But if both speakers already know whether it is morning or evening, just alle otto is the usual, natural form.